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PRINCE OTTO 


PRINCE OTTO 


A ROMANCE 


by 

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 

n 



NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 

1902 

\AU rights reserved ] 






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TO NELLY VAN DE GRIFT 

(Mrs. Adulfo Sanchez, of Monterey) 

At last, after so many years, I have the pleasure of re- 
introducing you to Prince Otto , whom you will remember a very 
little fellow, no bigger in fact than a few sheets of memoranda 
written for me by your kind hand. The sight of his name will 
carry you back to an old wooden house embowered in creep- 
ers; a house that was far gone in the respectable stages of 
antiquity and seemed indissoluble from the green garden in 
which it stood, and that yet was a sea-traveller in its younger 
days, and had come round the Horn piecemeal in the belly of 
a ship, and might have heard the seamen stamping and shout- 
ing and the note of the boatswain’s whistle. It will recal to 
you the nondescript inhabitants now so widely scattered : — 
the two horses, the dog, and the four cats, some of them still 
looking in your face as you read these lines ; — the poor lady, 
so unfortunately married to an author ; — the China boy, by 
this time, perhaps, baiting his line by the banks of a river in 
the Flowery Land ; — and in particular the Scot who was then 
sick apparently unto death, and whom you did so much to 
cheer and keep in good behaviour. 

You may remember that he was full of ambitions and de- 
signs : so soon as he had his health again completely, you 


VI 


DEDICATION 


may remember the fortune he was to earn, the journeys he 
was to go upon, the delights he was to enjoy and confer, and 
(among other matters) the masterpiece he was to make of 
‘Prince Otto! 

Well, we will not give in that we are finally beaten. We 
read together in those days the story of Braddock, and how, 
as he was carried dying from the scene of his defeat, he 
promised himself to do better another time : a story that will 
always touch a brave heart, and a dying speech worthy of a 
more fortunate commander. I try to be of Braddock’s mind. 
I still mean to get my health again ; I still purpose, by hook 
or crook, this book or the next, to launch a masterpiece ; and 
I still intend — some how, some time or other — to see your face 
and to hold your hand. 

Meanwhile, this little paper traveller goes forth instead, 
crosses the great seas and the long plains and the dark moun- 
tains, and comes at last to your door in Monterey, charged 
with tender greetings. Pray you, take him in. He comes 
from a house where (even as in your own) there are gathered 
together some of the waifs of our company at Oakland ; a 
house — for all its outlandish Gaelic name and distant station 
— where you are well-beloved. 

R. L. S. 


Skerryvore, 

Bournemouth. 


CONTENTS 

BOOK I 

PRINCE ERRANT 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

In which the Prince departs on an Adventure 3 

CHAPTER II 

In which the Prince plays Haroun-al-Raschid 9 

CHAPTER III 

In which the Prince comforts Age and Beauty and 
delivers a Lecture on Discretion in Love 23 

CHAPTER IV 

In which the Prince collects Opinions by the Way 37 


yin 


CONTENTS 


BOOK II 

OF LOVE AND POLITICS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

What happened in the Library 57 

CHAPTER II 

‘On the Court of Grunewald,’ being a Portion of the 
Traveller’s Manuscript 72 

CHAPTER III 

The Prince and the English Traveller 81 

CHAPTER IV 

While the Prince is in the Ante-room 91 

CHAPTER V 

Gondremark is in my Lady’s Chamber 99 

CHAPTER VI 

The Prince delivers a Lecture on Marriage, with 
Practical Illustrations of Divorce 108 

CHAPTER VII 

The Prince dissolves the Council 120 


CONTENTS 


IX 


CHAPTER VIII 

PAGE 

The Party of War takes Action 133 

CHAPTER IX 

The Price of the River Farm ; in which Vainglory 
goes before a Fall 143 

CHAPTER X 

Gotthold’s Revised Opinion ; and the Fall completed . . 159 

CHAPTER XI 

Providence von Rosen : Act the First : She beguiles 
the Baron 171 

CHAPTER XII 

Providence von Rosen : Act the Second : She informs 
the Prince 180 

CHAPTER XIII 

Providence von Rosen : Act the Third : She enlightens 
Seraphina 194 

CHAPTER XIV 


Relates the Cause and Outbreak of the Revolution . . . 203 


X 


CONTENTS 


BOOK III 

FORTUNATE MISFORTUNE 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Princess Cinderella 219 

CHAPTER II 

Treats of a Christian Virtue 242 

CHAPTER III 

Providence von Rosen : Act the Last : in which She 

GALLOPS OFF 250 

CHAPTER IV 

Babes in the Wood 262 


Bibliographical Postscript, to complete the Story. . 272 


BOOK I 


PRINCE ERRANT 










PRINCE ERRANT 


CHAPTER I 

IN’ WHICH THE PRINCE DEPARTS ON AN ADVENTURE 

You shall seek in vain upon the map of Europe for 
the bygone state of Griinewald. An independent 
principality, an infinitesimal member of the German 
Empire, she played, for several centuries, her part in 
the discord of Europe ; and, at last, in the ripeness of 
time and at the spiriting of several bald diplomatists, 
vanished like a morning ghost. Less fortunate than 
Poland, she left not a regret behind her ; and the very 
memory of her boundaries has faded. 

It was a patch of hilly country covered with thick 
wood. Many streams took their beginning in the glens 
of Griinewald, turning mills for the inhabitants. There 
was one town, Mittwalden, and many brown, wooden 
hamlets, climbing roof above roof, along the steep 
bottom of dells, and communicating by covered bridges 
over the larger of the torrents. The hum of watermills. 


4 


PKINCE OTTO 


the splash of running water, the clean odour of pine 
sawdust, the sound and smell of the pleasant wind 
among the innumerable army of the mountain pines, 
the dropping fire of huntsmen, the dull stroke of the 
wood-axe, intolerable roads, fresh trout for supper in 
the clean hare chamber of an inn, and the song of birds 
and the music of the village-bells — these were the 
recollections of the Griinewald tourist. 

North and east the foothills of Griinewald sank with 
varying profile into a vast plain. On these sides many 
small states bordered with the principality, Gerolstein, 
an extinct grand duchy, among the number. On the 
south it marched with the comparatively powerful king- 
dom of Seaboard Bohemia, celebrated for its flowers and 
mountain bears, and inhabited by a people of singular 
simplicity and tenderness of heart. Several inter- 
marriages had, in the course of centuries, united the 
crowned families of Griinewald and maritime Bohemia ; 
and the last Prince of Griinewald, whose history I pur- 
pose to relate, drew his descent through Perdita, the 
only daughter of King Florizel the First of Bohemia. 
That these intermarriages had in some degree mitigated 
the rough, manly stock of the first Griinewalds, was an 
opinion widely held within the borders of the princi- 
pality. The charcoal burner, the mountain sawyer, the 
wielder of the broad axe among the congregated pines 
of Griinewald, proud of their hard hands, proud of their 
6hrewd ignorance and almost savage lore, looked with 


A ROMANCE 


5 


an unfeigned contempt on the soft character and man- 
ners of the sovereign race. 

The precise year of grace in which this tale begins 
shall he left to the conjecture of the reader. But for 
the season of the year (which, in such a story, is the 
more important of the two) it was already so far for- 
ward in the spring, that when mountain people heard 
horns echoing all day about the north-west corner of 
the principality, they told themselves that Prince Otto 
and his hunt were up and out for the last time till the 
return of autumn. 

At this point the borders of Griinewald descend some- 
what steeply, here and there breaking into crags ; and 
this shaggy and trackless country stands in a bold con- 
trast to the cultivated plain below. It was traversed at 
that period by two roads alone ; one, the imperial high- 
way, bound to Brandenau in Gerolstein, descended the 
slope obliquely and by the easiest gradients. The other 
ran like a fillet across the very forehead of the hills, 
dipping into savage gorges, and wetted by the spray of 
tiny waterfalls. Once it passed beside a certain tower 
or castle, built sheer upon the margin of a formidable 
cliff, and commanding a vast prospect of the skirts of 
Griinewald and the busy plains of Gerolstein. The 
Felsenburg (so this tower was called) served now as a 
prison, now as a hunting-seat ; and for all it stood so 
lonesome to the naked eye, with the aid of a good glass 
the burghers of Brandenau could count its windows 


6 


PRINCE OTTO 


from the lime-tree terrace where they walked at 
night. 

In the wedge of forest hillside enclosed between the 
roads, the horns continued all day long to scatter tumult ; 
and at length, as the sun began to draw near to the hori- 
zon of the plain, a rousing triumph announced the 
slaughter of the quarry. The first and second hunts- 
man had drawn somewhat aside, and from the summit of 
a knoll gazed down before them on the drooping shoul- 
ders of the hill and across the expanse of plain. They 
covered their eyes, for the sun was in their faces. The 
glory of its going down was somewhat pale. Through 
the confused tracery of many thousands of naked poplars, 
the smoke of so many houses, and the evening steam as- 
cending from the fields, the sails of a windmill on a gen- 
tle eminence moved very conspicuously, like a donkey’s 
ears. And hard by, like an open gash, the imperial 
highroad ran straight sunward, an artery of travel. 

There is one of nature's spiritual ditties, that has not 
yet been set to words or human music : f The Invitation 
to the Road ; ' an air continually sounding in the ears of 
gipsies, and to whose inspiration our nomadic fathers 
journeyed all their days. The hour, the season, and the 
scene, all were in delicate accordance. The air was full 
of birds of passage, steering westward and northward 
over Grunewald, an army of specks to the up-looking 
eye. And below, the great practicable road was bound 
for the same quarter. 


A ROMANCE 


7 


But to the two horsemen on the knoll this spiritual 
ditty was unheard. They were, indeed, in some con- 
cern of mind, scanning every fold of the subjacent 
forest, and betraying both anger and dismay in their 
impatient gestures. 

‘ I do not see him, Kuno,’ said the first huntsman, 
‘ nowhere — not a trace, not a hair of the mare’s tail ! 
No, sir, he’s off ; broke cover and got away. Why, for 
twopence I would hunt him with the dogs ! ’ 

‘ Mayhap, he’s gone home,’ said Kuno, hut without 
conviction. 

‘ Home ! ’ sneered the other. ‘ I give him twelve 
days to get home. No, it’s begun again ; it’s as it was 
three years ago, before he married ; a disgrace ! Hered- 
itary prince, hereditary fool ! There goes the govern- 
ment over the borders on a grey mare. What’s that ? 
No, nothing — no, I tell you, on my word, I set more 
store by a good gelding or an English dog. That for 
your Otto ! ’ 

* He’s not my Otto,’ growled Kuno. 

‘ Then I don’t know whose he is,’ was the retort. 

‘You would put your hand in the fire for him to- 
morrow,’ said Kuno, facing round. 

‘ Me ! ’ cried the huntsman. ‘ I would see him 
hanged ! I’m a Griinewald patriot— enrolled, and have 
my medal, too ; and I would help a prince ! I’m for 
liberty and Gondremark.’ 

‘Well, it’s all one,’ said Kuno. ‘If anybody said 


8 


PRINCE OTTO 


what you said, you would have his blood, and you 
know it/ 

f You have him on the brain/ retorted his companion. 
‘ There he goes ! 9 he cried, the next moment. 

And sure enough, about a mile down the mountain, a 
rider on a white horse was seen to flit rapidly across a 
heathy open and vanish among the trees on the farther 
side. 

‘ In ten minutes hefll be over the border into Gerol- 
stein/ said Kuno. ‘It’s past cure/ 

‘ Well, if he founders that mare, Fll never forgive 
him/ added the other, gathering his reins. 

And as they turned down from the knoll to rejoin 
their comrades, the sun dipped and disappeared, and 
the woods fell instantly into the gravity and greyness of 
the early night. 


CHAPTER II 


IN' WHICH THE PRIHCE PLAYS HAROUK-AL-RASCHID 

The night fell upon the Prince while he was thread- 
ing green tracks in the lower valleys of the wood ; and 
though the stars came out overhead and displayed the 
interminable order of the pine-tree pyramids, regular 
and dark like cypresses, their light was of small service 
to a traveller in such lonely paths, and from thenceforth 
he rode at random. The austere face of nature, the 
uncertain issue of his course, the open sky and the free 
air, delighted him like wine ; and the hoarse chafing of 
a river on his left sounded in his ears agreeably. 

It was past eight at night before his toil was rewarded, 
and he issued at last out of the forest on the firm white 
highroad. It lay downhill before him, with a sweeping 
eastward trend, faintly bright between the thickets ; and 
Otto paused and gazed upon it. So it ran, league after 
league, still joining others, to the farthest ends of 
Europe, there skirting the sea-surge, here gleaming in 
the lights of cities ; and the innumerable army of tramps 
and travellers moved upon it in all lands as by a com- 
mon impulse, and were now in all places drawing near 
to the inn door and the night's rest. The pictures 


10 


PRINCE OTTO 


swarmed and vanished in his brain ; a surge of tempta- 
tion, a beat of all his blood, went over him, to set spur 
to the mare and to go on into the unknown for ever. 
And then it passed away ; hunger and fatigue, and that 
habit of middling actions which we call common sense, 
resumed their empire ; and in that changed mood, his 
eye lighted upon two bright windows on his left hand, 
between the road and river. 

He turned off by a by-road, and in a few minutes 
he was knocking with his whip on the door of a large 
farmhouse, and a chorus of dogs from the farmyard 
were making angry answer. A very tall, old, white- 
headed man came, shading a candle, at the summons. 
He had been of great strength in his time, and of a 
handsome countenance ; but now he was fallen away, 
his teeth were quite gone, and his voice when he spoke 
was broken and falsetto. 

' You will pardon me/ said Otto. ‘Iam a traveller 
and have entirely lost my way/ 

‘ Sir/ said the old man, in a very stately, shaky 
manner, ‘ you are at the Eiver Farm, and I am Killian 
Gottesheim, at your disposal. We are here, sir, at 
about an equal distance from Mittwalden in Griine- 
wald and Brandenau in Gerolstein : six leagues to 
either, and the road excellent; but there is not a 
wine bush, not a carter^ alehouse, anywhere between. 
You will have to accept my hospitality for the night ; 
rough hospitality, to which I make you freely welcome ; 


A ROMANCE 


11 


for, sir/ he added with a bow, f it is God who sends the 
guest/ 

* Amen. And I most heartily thank you/ replied 
Otto, bowing in his turn. 

f Fritz/ said the old man, turning towards the in- 
terior, * lead round this gentleman's horse ; and you, 
sir, condescend to enter.' 

Otto entered a chamber occupying the greater part of 
the ground-floor of the building. It had probably once 
been divided ; for the farther end was raised by a long 
step above the nearer, and the blazing fire and the 
white supper-table seemed to stand upon a dais. All 
around w r ere dark, brass-mounted cabinets and cup- 
boards ; dark shelves carrying ancient country crockery ; 
guns and antlers and broadside ballads on the wall ; a 
tall old clock with roses on the dial ; and down in one 
corner the comfortable promise of a wine barrel. It was 
homely, elegant, and quaint. 

A powerful youth hurried out to attend on the grey 
mare ; and when Mr. Killian Gottesheim had present- 
ed him to his daughter Ottilia, Otto followed to the 
stable as became, not perhaps the Prince, but the 
good horseman. When he returned, a smoking ome- 
lette and some slices of home-cured ham were wait- 
ing him ; these were followed by a ragout and a cheese ; 
and it was not until his guest had entirely satisfied 
his hunger, and the whole party drew about the fire 
over the wine jug, that Killian Gottesheim's elaborate 


12 


PRINCE OTTO 


courtesy permitted him to address a question to the 
Prince. 

‘ You have perhaps ridden far, sir ? ’ he inquired. 

I have, as you say, ridden far/ replied Otto ; ‘ and, 
as you have seen, I was prepared to do justice to your 
daughter’s cookery.’ 

‘ Possibly, sir, from the direction of Brandenau ? ’ 
continued Killian. 

‘ Precisely : and I should have slept to-night, had 
I not wandered, in Mittwalden,’ answered the Prince, 
weaving in a patch of truth, according to the habit of 
all liars. 

f Business leads you to Mittwalden ? ’ was the next 
question. 

‘ Mere curiosity,’ said Otto. * I have never yet visited 
the principality of Griinewald.’ 

‘ A pleasant state, sir,’ piped the old man, nodding, 
f a very pleasant state, and a fine race, both pines and 
people. We reckon ourselves part Griinewald ers here, 
lying so near the borders ; and the river there is all 
good Griinewald water, every drop of it. Yes, sir, a fine 
state. A man of Griinewald now will swing me an axe 
over his head that many a man of Gerolstein could 
hardly lift ; and the pines, why, deary me, there must 
be more pines in that little state, sir, than people in 
this whole big world. ’Tis twenty years now since I 
crossed the marshes, for we grow home-keepers in old 
age ; but I mind it as if it was yesterday. Up and 


A ROMANCE 


13 


down, the road keeps right on from here to Mittwalden ; 
and nothing all the way but the good green pine-trees, 
big and little, and water power ! water power at every 
step, sir. We once sold a bit of forest, up there beside 
the highroad ; and the sight of minted money that we 
got for it, has set me ciphering ever since what all the 
pines in Griinewald would amount to/ 

‘ I suppose you see nothing of the Prince ? * inquired 
Otto. 

‘ No/ said the young man, speaking for the first time, 
‘ nor want to/ 

‘ Why so ? is he so much disliked ? 9 asked Otto. 

‘Not what you might call disliked/ replied the old 
gentleman, ‘ but despised, sir/ 

‘ Indeed/ said the Prince, somewhat faintly. 

‘Yes, sir, despised/ nodded Killian, filling a long 
pipe, ‘and, to my way of thinking, justly despised. 
Here is a man with great opportunities, and what does 
he do with them ? He hunts, and he dresses very 
prettily — which is a thing to be ashamed of in a man — 
and he acts plays ; and if he does aught else, the news 
of it has not come here/ 

‘Yet these are all innocent/ said Otto. ‘What 
would you have him do — make war ?’ 

‘No, sir/ replied the old man. ‘But here it is; 
I have been fifty years upon this River Farm, and 
wrought in it, day in, day out ; I have ploughed and 
sowed and reaped, and risen early, and waked late ; 


14 


PRINCE OTTO 


and this is the upshot : that all these years it has sup- 
ported me and my family ; and been the best friend 
that ever I had, set aside my wife ; and now, when my 
time comes, I leave it a better farm than when I found 
it. So it is, if a man works hearty in the order of 
nature, he gets bread and he receives comfort, and 
whatever he touches breeds. And it humbly appears 
to me, if that Prince was to labour on his throne, as I 
have laboured and wrought in my farm, he would find 
both an increase and a blessing.’ 

‘I believe with you, sir/ Otto said; f and yet the 
parallel is inexact. For the farmer’s life is natural 
and simple ; but the prince’s is both artificial and com- 
plicated. It is easy to do right in the one, and exceed- 
ingly difficult not to do wrong in the other. If your 
crop is blighted, you can take off your bonnet and say, 
“ God’s will be done”; but if the prince meets with a 
reverse, he may have to blame himself for the attempt. 
And perhaps, if all the kings in Europe were to confine 
themselves to innocent amusement, the subjects would 
be the better off.’ 

* Ay,’ said the young man Fritz, f you are in the right 
of it there. That was a true word spoken. And I 
see you are like me, a good patriot and an enemy to 
princes.’ 

Otto was somewhat abashed at this deduction, and he 
made haste to change his ground. f But,’ said he, * you 
surprise me by what you say of this Prince Otto. I 


A ROMANCE 


15 


have heard him, I must own, more favourably painted. 
I was told he was, in his heart, a good fellow, and the 
enemy of no one but himself/ 

f And so he is, sir/ said the girl, ‘ a very handsome, 
pleasant prince ; and we know some who would shed 
their blood for him/ 

‘ 0 ! Kuno ! 9 said Fritz. ‘ An ignoramus ! y 
‘Ay, Kuno, to be sure/ quavered the old farmer. 
‘ Well, since this gentleman is a stranger to these parts, 
and curious about the Prince, I do believe that story 
might divert him. This Kuno, you must know, sir, 
is one of the hunt servants, and a most ignorant, 
intemperate man : a right Griinewalder, as we say in 
Gerolstein. We know him well, in this house ; for he 
has come as far as here after his stray dogs ; and I make 
all welcome, sir, without account of state or nation. 
And, indeed, between Gerolstein and Griinewald the 
peace has held so long that the roads stand open like 
my door ; and a man will make no more of the frontier 
than the very birds themselves/ 

‘Ay/ said Otto, ‘it has been a long peace — a peace 
of centuries/ 

‘ Centuries, as you say/ returned Killian : ‘ the more 
the pity that it should not be for ever. Well, sir, this 
Kuno was one day in fault, and Otto, who has a quick 
temper, up with his whip and thrashed him, they do say, 
soundly. Kuno took it as best he could, but at last he 
broke out, and dared the Prince to throw his whip 


16 


PRINCE OTTO 


away and wrestle like a man ; for we are all great at 
wrestling in these parts, and it's so that we generally 
settle our disputes. Well, sir, the Prince did so ; and 
being a weakly creature, found the tables turned ; for 
the man whom he had just been thrashing like a negro 
slave, lifted him with a back grip and threw him heels 
overhead/ 

* He broke his bridle-arm/ cried Fritz — ‘ and some 
say his nose. Serve him right, say I ! Man to man, 
which is the better at that ? ' 

‘And then ?' asked Otto. 

‘ 0, then, Kuno carried him home ; and they were 
the best of friends from that day forth. I don’t say 
it’s a discreditable story, you observe/ continued Mr. 
Gottesheim ; ‘but it’s droll, and that's the fact. A 
man should think before he strikes ; for, as my nephew 
says, man to man was the old valuation.' 

‘ How, if you were to ask me,' said Otto, ‘ I should 
perhaps surprise you. I think it was the Prince that 
conquered.' 

‘ And, sir, you would be right,' replied Killian, seri- 
ously. ‘ In the eyes of God, I do not question but 
you would be right ; but men, sir, look at these things 
differently, and they laugh.' 

‘ They made a song of it,' observed Fritz. ‘ How 
does it go ? Ta-tum-ta-ra . . . .' 

‘Well,' interrupted Otto, who had no great anxiety to 
hear the song, ‘the Prince is young ; he may yet mend.' 


A ROMANCE 


17 


‘Not so young, by your leave/ cried Fritz. ‘ A man 
of forty/ 

‘ Thirty-six/ corrected Mr. Gottesheim. 

‘ 0/ cried Ottilia, in obvious disillusion, * a man of 
middle age ! And they said he was so handsome when 
he was young ! 9 

( And bald, too/ added Fritz. 

Otto passed his hand among his locks. At that 
moment he was far from happy, and even the tedious 
evenings at Mittwalden Palace began to smile upon him 
by comparison. 

‘ 0, six-and-thirty ! 9 he protested. f A man is not 
yet old at six-and-thirty. I am that age myself/ 

f I should have taken you for more, sir/ piped the old 
farmer. ‘ But if that be so, you are of an age with 
Master Ottekin, as people call him ; and, I would wager 
a crown, have done more service in your time. Though 
it seems young by comparison with men of a great age 
like me, yet i/s some way through life for all that ; and 
the mere fools and fiddlers are beginning to grow weary 
and to look old. Yes, sir, by six-and-thirty, if a man 
be a follower of God's laws, he should have made him- 
self a home and a good name to live by ; he should have 
got a wife and a blessing on his marriage ; and his 
works, as the Word says, should begin to follow him/ 

f Ah, well, the Prince is married/ cried Fritz, with 
a coarse burst of laughter. 

‘ That seems to entertain you, sir/ said Otto. 

2 


18 


PRINCE OTTO 


' Ay/ said the young boor. ' Did you not know that ? 
I thought all Europe knew it ! ’ And he added a pan- 
tomime of a nature to explain his accusation to the 
dullest. 

' Ah, sir/ said Mr. Gottesheim, ' it is very plain that 
you are not from hereabouts ! But the truth is, that the 
whole princely family and Court are rips and rascals, 
not one to mend another. They live, sir, in idleness 
and — what most commonly follows it — corruption. The 
Princess has a lover ; a Baron, as he calls himself, from 
East Prussia ; and the Prince is so little of a man, sir, 
that he holds the candle. Nor is that the worst of it, 
for this foreigner and his paramour are suffered to 
transact the State affairs, while the Prince takes the 
salary and leaves all things to go to wrack. There will 
follow upon this some manifest judgment which, though 
I am old, I may survive to see/ 

'Good man, you are in the wrong about Gondre- 
mark/ said Fritz, showing a greatly increased anima- 
tion ; ' but for all the rest, you speak the God’s truth 
like a good patriot. As for the Prince, if he would take 
and strangle his wife, I would forgive him yet.’ 

'Nay, Fritz/ said the old man, 'that would be to add 
iniquity to evil. For you perceive, sir/ he continued, 
once more addressing himself to the unfortunate Prince, 
' this Otto has himself to thank for these disorders. He 
has his young wife and his principality, and he has 
sworn to cherish both.’ 


A ROMANCE 


19 


‘ Sworn at the altar ! 9 echoed Fritz. * But put your 
faith in princes ! 9 

‘Well, sir, he leaves them both to an adventurer from 
East Prussia/ pursued the farmer ; ‘ leaves the girl to 
he seduced and to go on from bad to worse, till her 
name’s become a taproom by-word, and she not yet 
twenty ; leaves the country to be overtaxed, and bullied 
with armaments, and jockied into war 9 

‘ War \ 9 cried Otto. 

‘ So they say, sir ; those that watch their ongoings, 
say to war/ asseverated Killian. ‘ Well, sir, that is very 
sad ; it is a sad thing for this poor, wicked girl to go 
down to hell with people’s curses ; it’s a sad thing for a 
tight little happy country to be misconducted ; but who- 
ever may complain, I humbly conceive, sir, that this 
Otto cannot. What he has worked for, that he has got ; 
and may God have pity on his soul, for a great and a 
silly sinner’s !’ 

‘ He has broke his oath ; then he is a perjurer. He 
takes the money and leaves the work ; why, then plainly 
he’s a thief. A cuckold he was before, and a fool by 
birth. Better me that ! ’ cried Fritz, and snapped his 
fingers. 

‘And now, sir, you will see a little/ continued the 
farmer, ‘ why we think so poorly of this Prince Otto. 
There’s such a thing as a man being pious and honest 
in the private way ; and there is such a thing, sir, as 
a public virtue ; but when a man has neither, the Lord 


20 


PRINCE OTTO 


lighten him ! Even this Gondremark, that Fritz here 
thinks so much of ' 

‘ Ay/ interrupted Fritz, f Gondremark's the man for 
me. I would we had his like in Gerolstein/ 

f He is a bad man/ said the old farmer, shaking his 
head ; * and there was never good begun by the breach 
of God's commandments. But so far I will go with 
you : he is a man that works for what he has/ 

‘ I tell you he's the hope of Grunewald/ cried Fritz. 
f He doesn't suit some of your high-and-dry, old, ancient 
ideas ; hut lie's a downright modern man — a man of the 
new lights and the progress of the age. He does some 
things wrong ; so they all do ; but he has the people's 
interests next his heart ; and you mark me — you, sir, 
who are a Liberal, and the enemy of all their govern- 
ments, you please to mark my words — the day will come 
in Grunewald, when they take out that yellow-headed 
skulk of a Prince and that dougli-faced Messalina of a 
Princess, march 'em back foremost over the borders, and 
proclaim the Baron Gondremark first President. I've 
heard them say it in a speech. I was at a meeting once 
at Brandenau, and the Mittwalden delegates spoke up 
for fifteen thousand. Fifteen thousand, all brigaded, 
and each man with a medal round his neck to rally by. 
That's all Gondremark.' 

‘ Ay, sir, you see what it leads to : wild talk to-day, 
and wilder doings to-morrow/ said the old man. ‘ For 
there is one thing certain : that this Gondremark has 


A ROMANCE 


21 


one foot in the Court backstairs, and the other in the 
Masons' lodges. He gives himself out, sir, for what 
nowadays they call a patriot : a man from East Prussia ! ' 

‘ Give himself out ! ' cried Fritz. 4 He is ! He is to 
lay by his title as soon as the Republic is declared ; I 
heard it in a speech.' 

f Lay by Baron to take up President ? ' returned 
Killian. 4 King Log, King Stork. But you'll live 
longer than I, and you will see the fruits of it.' 

‘ Father,' whispered Ottilia, pulling at the speaker's 
coat, 4 surely the gentleman is ill.' 

"I beg your pardon,' cried the farmer, rewaking to 
hospitable thoughts ; 4 can I offer you anything ? ' 

4 I thank you. I am very weary,' answered Otto. 4 I 
have presumed upon my strength. If you would show 
me to a bed, I should be grateful.' 

4 Ottilia, a candle ! ' said the old man. 4 Indeed, sir, 
you look paley. A little cordial water ? No ? Then 
follow me, I beseech you, and I will bring you to the 
stranger's bed. You are not the first by many who has 
slept well below my roof,' continued the old gentleman, 
mounting the stairs before his guest ; 4 for good food, 
honest wine, a grateful conscience, and a little pleasant 
chat before a man retires, are worth all the possets and 
apothecary's drugs. See, sir,' and here he opened a 
door and ushered Otto into a little whitewashed sleep- 
ing-room, 4 here you are in port. It is small, but it is 
airy, and the sheets are clean and kept in lavender. 


22 


PRINCE OTTO 


The window, too, looks out above the river, and there’s 
no music like a little river’s. It plays the same tune 
(and that’s the favourite) over and over again, and yet 
does not weary of it like men fiddlers. It takes the 
mind out of doors ; and though we should be grateful 
for good houses, there is, after all, no house like God’s 
out-of-doors. And lastly, sir, it quiets a man down like 
saying his prayers. So here, sir, I take my kind leave of 
you until to-morrow ; and it is my prayerful wish that 
you may slumber like a prince.’ 

And the old man, with the twentieth courteous incli- 
nation, left his guest alone. 


CHAPTER III 


IK WHICH THE PRIKCE COMFORTS AGE AKD BEAUTY 
AND DELIVERS A LECTURE OK DISCRETIOK IK LOVE 

The Prince was early abroad : in the time of the first 
chorus of birds, of the pure and quiet air, of the slant- 
ing sunlight and the mile-long shadows. To one who 
had passed a miserable night, the freshness of that hour 
was tonic and reviving ; to steal a march upon his slum- 
bering fellows, to be the Adam of the coming day, com- 
posed and fortified his spirit ; and the Prince, breathing 
deep and pausing as he went, walked in the wet fields 
beside his shadow, and was glad. 

A trellised path led down into the valley of the 
brook, and he turned to follow it. The stream was a 
break-neck, boiling Highland river. Hard by the farm, 
it leaped a little precipice in a thick grey-mare's tail of 
twisted filaments, and then lay and worked and bubbled 
in a lynn. Into the middle of this quaking pool a 
rock protruded, shelving to a cape ; and thither Otto 
scrambled and sat down to ponder. 

Soon the sun struck through the screen of branches 
and thin early leaves that made a hanging bower above 
the fall ; and the golden lights and flitting shadows fell 


24 


PRINCE OTTO 


upon and marbled the surface of that seething pot ; and 
rays plunged deep among the turning waters ; and a 
spark, as bright as a diamond, lit upon the swaying 
eddy. It began to grow warm where Otto lingered, 
warm and heady ; the lights swam, weaving their maze 
across the shaken pool ; on the impending rock, reflec- 
tions danced like butterflies ; and the air was fanned by 
the waterfall as by a swinging curtain. 

Otto, who was weary with tossing and beset with 
horrid phantoms of remorse and jealousy, instantly fell 
dead in love with that sun-chequered, echoing corner. 
Holding his feet, he stared out of a drowsy trance, 
wondering, admiring, musing, losing his way among 
uncertain thoughts. There is nothing that so apes the 
external bearing of free will, as that unconscious bustle, 
obscurely following liquid laws, with which a river con- 
tends among obstructions. It seems the very play of 
man and destiny, and as Otto pored on these recurrent 
changes, he grew, by equal steps, the sleepier and the 
more profound. Eddy and Prince were alike jostled in 
their purpose, alike anchored by intangible influences 
in one corner of the world. Eddy and Prince were 
alike useless, starkly useless, in the cosmology of men. 
Eddy and Prince — Prince and Eddy. 

It is probable he had been some while asleep when a 
voice recalled him from oblivion. * Sir/ it was saying ; 
and looking round, he saw Mr. Killian^s daughter, terri- 
fied by her boldness and making bashful signals from 


A ROMANCE 


25 


the shore. She was a plain, honest lass, healthy and 
happy and good, and with that sort of beauty that comes 
of happiness and health. But her confusion lent her for 
the moment an additional charm. 

‘ Good morning/ said Otto, rising and moving to- 
wards her. * I arose early and was in a dream/ 

‘ 0, sir ! 9 she cried, ‘ I wish to beg of you to spare my 
father ; for I assure your Highness, if he had known 
who you was, he would have bitten his tongue out 
sooner. And Fritz, too — how he went on ! But I had 
a notion ; and this morning I went straight down into 
the stable, and there was your Highness’s crown upon 
the stirrup-irons ! But, oh, sir, I made certain you 
would spare them ; for they were as innocent as lambs/ 
‘ My dear/ said Otto, both amused and gratified, 
‘ you do not understand. It is I who am in the wrong ; 
for I had no business to conceal my name and lead 
on these gentlemen to speak of me. And it is I who 
have to beg of you, that you will keep my secret and not 
betray the discourtesy of which I was guilty. As for 
any fear of me, your friends are safe in Gerolstein ; and 
even in my own territory, you must be well aware I have 
no power/ 

* 0, sir/ she said, curtsying, ‘ I would not say that : 
the huntsmen would all die for you/ 

‘ Happy Prince ! 9 said Otto. ' But although you are 
too courteous to avow the knowledge, you have had 
many opportunities of learning that I am a vain show. 


26 


PRINCE OTTO 


Only last night we heard it very clearly stated. Yon 
see the shadow flitting on this hard rock. Prince Otto, 
I am afraid, is but the moving shadow, and the name of 
the rock is Gondremark. Ah ! if your friends had fallen 
foul of Gondremark ! But happily the younger of the 
two admires him. And as for the old gentleman your 
father, he is a wise man and an excellent talker, and 
I would take a long wager he is honest/ 

f 0, for honest, your Highness, that he is ! ' exclaimed 
the girl. * And Fritz is as honest as he. And as for 
all they said, it was just talk and nonsense. When 
countryfolk get gossiping, they go on, I do assure you, 
for the fun ; they don't as much as think of what they 
say. If you went to the next farm, it's my belief you 
would hear as much against my father/ 

‘ Nay, nay/ said Otto, * there you go too fast. For all 

that was said against Prince Otto ' 

f 0, it was shameful ! ' cried the girl. 

* Not shameful — true/ returned Otto. f Oh, yes — 
true. I am all they said of me — all that and worse/ 
f I never ! ' cried Ottilia. f Is that how you do ? 
Well, you would never be a soldier. Now if any one 
accuses me, I get up and give it them. 0, I defend 
myself. I wouldn't take a fault at another person's 
hands, no, not if I had it on my forehead. And that's 
what you must do, if you mean to live it out. But, in- 
deed, I never heard such nonsense. I should think you 
was ashamed of yourself ! You're bald then, I suppose?' 


A ROMANCE 


27 


* 0 no/ said Otto, fairly laughing. ‘ There I acquit 
myself : not bald ! ' 

‘ Well, and good ? 9 pursued the girl. ‘ Come now, 
you know you are good, and 111 make you say so. . . . 
Your Highness, I beg your humble pardon. But there's 
no disrespect intended. And anyhow, you know you 
are.' 

‘ Why, now, what am I to say ?' replied Otto. ‘You 
are a cook, and excellently well you do it ; I embrace 
the chance of thanking you for the ragout. Well now, 
have you not seen good food so bedevilled by unskilful 
cookery that no one could he brought to eat the 
pudding ? That is me, my dear. I am full of good 
ingredients, but the dish is worthless. I am — I give it 
you in one word — sugar in the salad.' 

‘Well, I don't care, you're good,' reiterated Ottilia, 
a little flushed by having failed to understand. 

‘ I will tell you one thing,' replied Otto : ‘ You 
are !' 

‘ Ah, well, that's what they all said of you,' moralised 
the girl ; ‘ such a tongue to come round — such a flatter- 
ing tongue ! ' 

‘ 0, you forget, I am a man of middle age,' the 
Prince chuckled. 

‘ Well, to speak to you, I should think you was a 
boy ; and Prince or no Prince, if you came worrying 
where I was cooking, I would pin a napkin to your 
tails. . . . And, 0 Lord, I declare I hope your High- 


28 


PRINCE OTTO 


ness will forgive me/ the girl added. ‘ I can’t keep 
it in my mind.’ 

f No more can 1/ cried Otto. * That is just what 
they complain of ! ’ 

They made a loverly-looking couple ; only the heavy 
pouring of that horse-tail of water made them raise their 
voices above lovers’ pitch. But to a jealous onlooker 
from above, their mirth and close proximity might 
easily give umbrage ; and a rough voice out of the tuft 
of brambles began calling on Ottilia by name. She 
changed colour at that. ‘ It is Fritz/ she said. ‘ I 
must go.’ 

‘ Go, my dear, and I need not bid you go in peace, for 
I think you have discovered that I am not formidable at 
close quarters/ said the Prince, and made her a fine 
gesture of dismissal. 

So Ottilia skipped up the bank, and disappeared into 
the thicket, stopping once for a single blushing bob — 
blushing, because she had in the interval once more for- 
gotten and remembered the stranger’s quality. 

Otto returned to his rock promontory ; but his hu- 
mour had in the meantime changed. The sun now 
shone more fairly on the pool ; and over its brown, 
welling surface, the blue of heaven and the golden green 
of the spring foliage danced in fleeting arabesque. The 
eddies laughed and brightened with essential colour. 
And the beauty of the dell began to rankle in the 
Prince’s mind ; it was so near to his own borders, yet 


A ROMANCE 


29 


without. He had never had much of the joy of possess- 
orship in any of the thousand and one beautiful and 
curious things that were his ; and now he was conscious 
of envy for what was another’s. It was, indeed, a smil- 
ing, dilettante sort of envy ; but yet there it was : the 
passion of Ahab for the vineyard, done in little ; and he 
was relieved when Mr. Killian appeared upon the scene. 

C I hope, sir,, that you have slept well under my plain 
roof,’ said the old farmer. 

* I am admiring this sweet spot that you are privileged 
to dwell in,’ replied Otto, evading the inquiry. 

‘ It is rustic,’ returned Mr. Gottesheim, looking 
around him with complacency, ‘ a very rustic corner ; 
and some of the land to the west is most excellent fat 
land, excellent deep soil. You should see my wheat in 
the ten-acre field. There is not a farm in Grime wald, 
no, nor many in Gerolstein, to match the River Farm. 
Some sixty — I keep thinking when I sow — some sixty, 
and some seventy, and some an hundredfold ; and my 
own place, six score ! But that, sir, is partly the 
farming.’ 

' And the stream has fish ? ’ asked Otto. 

‘ A fish-pond,’ said the farmer. ‘ Ay, it is a pleasant 
hit. It is pleasant even here, if one had time, with the 
brook drumming in that black pool, and the green 
things hanging ail about the rocks, and, dear heart, to 
see the very pebbles ! all turned to gold and precious 
stones ! But you have come to that time of life, sir. 


30 


PRINCE OTTO 


when, if you will excuse me, you must look to have the 
rheumatism set in. Thirty to forty is, as one may say, 
their seedtime. And this is a damp cold corner for the 
early morning and an empty stomach. If I might 
humbly advise you, sir, I would be moving/ 

' With all my heart/ said Otto, gravely. ' And so 
you have lived your life here ? ’ he added, as they turned 
to go. 

'Here I was born/ replied the farmer, 'and here I 
wish I could say I was to die. But fortune, sir, fortune 
turns the wheel. They say she is blind, but we will 
hope she only sees a little farther on. My grandfather 
and my father and I, we have all tilled these acres, my 
furrow following theirs. All the three names are on the 
garden bench, two Killians and one Johann. Yes, sir, 
good men have prepared themselves for the great change 
in my old garden. Well do I mind my father, in a 
woollen night-cap, the good soul, going round and 
round to see the last of it. " Killian," said he, " do 
you see the smoke of my tobacco ? Why," said he, 
" that is man’s life." It was his last pipe, and I believe 
he knew it ; and it was a strange thing, without doubt, 
to leave the trees that he had planted, and the son that 
he had begotten, ay, sir, and even the old pipe with the 
Turk’s head that he had smoked since he was a lad and 
went a-courting. But here we have no continuing city ; 
and as for the eternal, it’s a comfortable thought that 
we have other merits than our own. And yet you 


A ROMANCE 


31 


would hardly think how sore it goes against the grain 
with me, to die in a strange bed/ 

f And must you do so ? For what reason ?’ Otto asked. 
* The reason ? The place is to be sold ; three thou- 
sand crowns/ replied Mr. Gottesheim. ‘ Had it been a 
third of that, I may say without boasting that, what 
with my credit and my savings, I could have met the 
sum. But at three thousand, unless I have singular 
good fortune and the new proprietor continues me in 
office, there is nothing left me but to budge/ 

Otto’s fancy for the place redoubled at the news, 
and became joined with other feelings. If all he heard 
were true, Grunewald was growing very hot for a sov- 
ereign Prince ; it might be well to have a refuge ; and 
if so, what more delightful hermitage could man im- 
agine ? Mr. Gottesheim, besides, had touched his sym- 
pathies. Every man loves in his soul to play the part of 
the stage deity. And to step down to the aid of the old 
farmer, who had so roughly handled him in talk, was 
the ideal of a Fair Kevenge. Otto’s thoughts bright- 
ened at the prospect, and he began to regard himself 
with a renewed respect. 

f I can find you, I believe, a purchaser/ he said, f and 
one who would continue to avail himself of your skill/ 

' Can you, sir, indeed ?’ said the old man. f Well, I 
shall be heartily obliged ; for I begin to find a man may 
practise resignation all his days, as he takes physic, and 
not come to like it in the end/ 


32 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ If you will have the papers drawn, you may even 
burthen the purchase with your interest/ said Otto. 
‘Let it be assured to you through life/ 

‘ Your friend, sir/ insinuated Killian, ‘ would not, 
perhaps, care to make the interest reversible ? Fritz is 
a good lad/ 

‘ Fritz is young/ said the Prince, drily ; ‘ he must 
earn consideration, not inherit/ 

‘ He has long worked upon the place, sir/ insisted 
Mr. Grottesheim ; ‘ and at my great age, for I am 
seventy-eight come harvest, it would be a troublesome 
thought to the proprietor how to fill my shoes. It 
w'ould be a care spared to assure yourself of Fritz. And 
I believe he might be tempted by a permanency/ 

‘ The young man has unsettled views/ returned Otto. 

‘ Possibly the purchaser 9 began Killian. 

A little spot of anger burned in Otto's cheek. * I am 
the purchaser/ he said. 

‘ It was what I might have guessed/ replied the 
farmer, bowing with an aged, obsequious dignity. ‘ You 
have made an old man very happy ; and I may say, 
indeed, that I have entertained an angel unawares. 
Sir, the great people of this world — and by that I mean 
those who are great in station — if they had only hearts 
like yours, how they would make the fires burn and 
the poor sing ! 9 

‘ I would not judge them hardly, sir/ said Otto. 
6 We all have our frailties/ 


A ROMANCE 


88 


‘ Truly, sir/ said Mr. Gottesheim, with unction. 
f And by what name, sir, am I to address my generous 
landlord ? ' 

The double recollection of an English traveller, w r hom 
he had received the week before at court, and of an old 
English rogue called Transome, whom he had known in 
youth, came pertinently to the Prince's help. ‘ Tran- 
some/ he answered, ‘ is my name. I am an English 
traveller. It is, to-day, Tuesday. On Thursday, before 
noon, the money shall be ready. Let us meet, if you 
please, in Mittwalden, at the “ Morning Star."' 

‘ I am, in all things lawful, your servant to command/ 
replied the farmer. c An Englishman ! You are a 
great race of travellers. And has your lordship some 
experience of land ? ' 

I have had some interest of the kind before/ re- 
turned the Prince ; f not in Gerolstein, indeed. But 
fortune, as you say, turns the wheel, and I desire to be 
beforehand with her revolutions.' 

‘ Very right, sir, I am sure/ said Mr. Killian. 

They had been strolling with deliberation ; but they 
were now drawing near to the farmhouse, mounting by 
the trellised pathway to the level of the meadow. A 
little before them, the sound of voices had been some 
while audible, and now grew louder and more distinct 
with every step of their advance. Presently, when they 
emerged upon the top of the bank, they beheld Fritz 

and Ottilia some way off ; he, very black and bloodshot, 
3 


84 


PRINCE OTTO 


emphasising his hoarse speech with the smacking of his 
fist against his palm ; she, standing a little way ofi in 
blowsy, voluble distress. 

‘Dear me !’ said Mr. Gottesheim, and made as if he 
would turn aside. 

But Otto went straight towards the lovers, in whose 
dissension he believed himself to have a share. And, 
indeed, as soon as he had seen the Prince, Fritz had 
stood tragic, as if awaiting and defying his approach. 

* 0, here you are ! ’ he cried, as soon as they were near 
enough for easy speech. ‘ You are a man at least, and 
must reply. What were you after ? Why were you 
two skulking in the bush ? God ! 9 he broke out, turn- 
ing again upon Ottilia, ‘ to think that I should waste 
my heart on you ! 9 

‘ I beg your pardon/ Otto cut in. ‘ You were address- 
ing me. In virtue of what circumstance am I to render 
you an account of this young lady’s conduct ? Are you 
her father ? her brother ? her husband ? 9 

‘ 0, sir, you know as well as 1/ returned the peasant. 
‘ We keep company, she and I. I love her, and she is 
by way of loving me ; but all shall be above-board, I 
would have her to know. I have a good pride of my 
own.’ 

‘ Why, I perceive I must explain to you what love is/ 
said Otto. ‘Its measure is kindness. It is very pos- 
sible that you are proud ; but she, too, may have some 
self-esteem ; I do not speak for myself. And perhaps, 


A ROMANCE 


35 


if your own doings were so curiously examined, you 
might find it inconvenient to reply/ 

‘ These are all set-offs/ said the young man. * You 
know very well that a man is a man, and a woman only 
a woman. That holds good all over, up and down. 
I ask you a question, I ask it again, and here I stand/ 
He drew a mark and toed it. 

f When you have studied liberal doctrines somewhat 
deeper/ said the Prince, * you will perhaps change your 
note. You are a man of false weights and measures, 
my young friend. You have one scale for women, 
another for men ; one for princes, and one for farmer- 
folk. On the prince who neglects his wife you can be 
most severe. But what of the lover who insults his mis- 
tress ? You use the name of love. I should think this 
lady might very fairly ask to be delivered from love of 
such a nature. For if I, a stranger, had been one-tenth 
part so gross and so discourteous, you would most right- 
eously have broke my head. It would have been in your 
part, as lover, to protect her from such insolence. Pro- 
tect her first, then, from yourself/ 

f Ay/ quoth Mr. Gottesheim, who had been looking 
on with his hands behind his tall old hack, f ay, that's 
scripture truth/ 

Fritz was staggered, not only by the Prince's imper- 
turbable superiority of manner, but by a glimmering 
consciousness that he himself was in the wrong. The 
appeal to liberal doctrines had, besides, unmanned him. 


36 


PRINCE OTTO 


* Well/ said he, ‘ if I was rude, Fll own to it. I 
meant no ill, and did nothing out of my just rights ; 
but I am above all these old vulgar notions too ; and 
if I spoke sfiarp, Fll ask her pardon/ 

‘ Freely granted, Fritz/ said Ottilia. 

‘ But all this doesn't answer me/ cried Fritz. ‘ I ask 
what you two spoke about. She says she promised not 
to tell ; well, then, I mean to know. Civility is civility ; 
but Fll be no man's gull. I have a right to common 
justice, if I do keep company ! ' 

‘ If you will ask Mr. Gottesheim,' replied Otto, ‘ you 
will find I have not spent my hours in idleness. I have, 
since I arose this morning, agreed to buy the farm. So 
far I will go to satisfy a curiosity which I condemn.' 

‘ 0, well, if there Avas business, that's another matter,' 
returned Fritz. ‘ Though it heats me why you could 
not tell. But, of course, if the gentleman is to buy 
the farm, I suppose there would naturally be an end.' 

‘ To be sure,' said Mr. Gottesheim, with a strong 
accent of conviction. 

But Ottilia was much braver. f There now ! ' she 
cried in triumph. * What did I tell you ? I told you 
I was fighting your battles. Now you see ! Think 
shame of your suspicious temper ! You should go down 
upon your bended knees both to that gentleman and 


me. 


CHAPTER IV 


IN' WHICH THE PRINCE COLLECTS OPINIONS 
BY THE WAY 

A little before noon Otto, by a triumph of manoeu- 
vring, effected his escape. He was quit in this way of 
the ponderous gratitude of Mr. Killian, and of the con- 
fidential gratitude of poor Ottilia ; but of Fritz he was 
not quit so readily. That young politician, brimming 
with mysterious glances, offered to lend his convoy 
as far as to the highroad ; and Otto, in fear of some 
residuary jealousy and for the girPs sake, had not the 
courage to gainsay him ; but he regarded his companion 
with uneasy glances, and devoutly wished the business 
at an end. For some time Fritz -walked by the mare in 
silence ; and they had already traversed more than half 
the proposed distance when, with something of a blush, 
he looked up and opened fire. 

* Are you not/ he asked, * what they call a socialist ? 9 

‘ Why, no/ returned Otto, * not precisely what they 
call so. Why do you ask ? 9 

‘ I will tell you why/ said the young man. * I saw 
from the first that you were a red progressional, and 
nothing but the fear of old Killian kept you back. And 


38 


PRINCE OTTO 


there, sir, yon were right : old men are always cowards. 
But nowadays, you see, there are so many groups : you 
can never tell how far the likeliest kind of man may be 
prepared to go ; and I was never sure you were one of 
the strong thinkers, till you hinted about women and 
free love/ 

* Indeed/ cried Otto, ‘ I never said a word of such a 
thing/ 

s Not you ! ' cried Fritz. ' Never a word to compro- 
mise ! You was sowing seed : ground-bait, our presi- 
dent calls it. But i/s hard to deceive me, for I know 
all the agitators and their ways, and all the doctrines ; 
and between you and me/ lowering his voice, f I am 
myself affiliated. 0, yes, I am a secret society man, 
and here is my medal/ And drawing out a green 
ribbon that he wore about his neck, he held up, for 
Otto's inspection, a pewter medal bearing the imprint 
of a Phoenix and the legend, Libertas. ‘ And so now 
you see you may trust me/ added Fritz. I am none 
of your ale-house talkers ; I am a convinced revolution- 
ary/ And he looked meltingly upon Otto. 

‘ I see/ replied the Prince ; f that is very gratifying. 
Well, sir, the great thing for the good of one's country 
is, first of all, to be a good man. All springs from 
there. For my part, although you are right in think- 
ing that I have to do with politics, I am unfit by intel- 
lect and temper for a leading r6le . I was intended, I 
fear, for a subaltern. Yet we have all something to 


A ROMANCE 


39 


command, Mr. Fritz, if it be only our own temper ; and 
a man about to marry must look closely to himself. 
The husband's, like the prince's, is a very artificial 
standing ; and it is hard to be kind in either. Do you 
follow that ? ' 

* 0, yes, I follow that,' replied the young man, sadly 
chop-fallen over the nature of the information he had 
elicited ; and then brightening up : * Is it,' he ventured, 

* is it for an arsenal that you have bought the farm ? 9 

‘ We'll see about that,' the Prince answered, laughing. 

* You must not be too zealous. And in the meantime, 
if I were you, I would say nothing on the subject.' 

* 0, trust me, sir, for that,' cried Fritz, as he pocketed 
a crown. ‘ And you've let nothing out ; for I suspected 
— I might say I knew it — from the first. And mind 
you, when a guide is required,' he added, ‘ I know all 
the forest paths.' 

Otto rode away, chuckling. This talk with Fritz had 
vastly entertained him ; nor was he altogether discon- 
tented with his bearing at the farm ; men, he was able 
to tell himself, had behaved worse under smaller prov- 
ocation. And, to harmonise all, the road and the April 
air were both delightful to his soul. 

Up and down, and to and fro, ever mounting through 
the wooded foothills, the broad, white highroad wound 
onward into Grunewald. On either hand the pines 
stood coolly rooted — green moss prospering, springs well- 
ing forth between their knuckled spurs ; and though 


40 


PRINCE OTTO 


some were broad and stalwart, and others spiry and 
slender, yet all stood firm in the same attitude and with 
the same expression, like a silent army presenting arms. 

The road lay all the way apart from towns and vil- 
lages, which it left on either hand. Here and there, 
indeed, in the bottom of green glens, the Prince could 
spy a few congregated roofs, or perhaps above him, on a 
shoulder, the solitary cabin of a woodman. But the 
highway was an international undertaking, and with 
its face set for distant cities, scorned the little life of 
Grunewald. Hence it was exceeding solitary. Near 
the frontier Otto met a detachment of his own troops 
marching in the hot dust ; and he was recognised and 
somewhat feebly cheered as he rode by. But from that 
time forth and for a long while he was alone with the 
great woods. 

Gradually the spell of pleasure relaxed ; his own 
thoughts returned, like stinging insects, in a cloud ; 
and the talk of the night before, like a shower of buf- 
fets, fell upon his memory. He looked east and west 
for any comforter ; and presently he was aware of a 
cross-road coming steeply down hill, and a horseman 
cautiously descending. A human voice or presence, 
like a spring in the desert, was now welcome in itself, 
and Otto drew bridle to await the coming of this 
stranger. He proved to be a very red-faced, thick- 
lipped countryman, with a pair of fat saddle-bags and 
a stone bottle at his waist ; who, as soon as the Prince 


A ROMANCE 


41 


hailed him, jovially, if somewhat thickly, answered. 
At the same time he gave a beery yaw in the saddle. It 
was clear his bottle was no longer full. 

* Do you ride towards Mittwalden ? ' asked the Prince. 

‘ As far as the cross-road to Tannenbrunn,' the man 
replied. ‘ Will you bear company ? ' 

f With pleasure. I have even waited for you on the 
chance/ answered Otto. 

By this time they were close alongside ; and the man, 
with the countryfolk instinct, turned his cloudy vision 
first of all on his companion's mount. ‘ The devil ! 9 he 
cried. ‘ You ride a bonny mare, friend ! 9 And then, 
his curiosity being satisfied about the essential, he 
turned his attention to that merely secondary matter, 
his companion's face. He started. ‘ The Prince ! ' he 
cried, saluting, with another yaw that came near dis- 
mounting him. ‘1 beg your pardon, your Highness, 
not to have reco'nised you at once.' 

The Prince was vexed out of his self-possession. 
‘ Since you know me,' he said, "it is unnecessary we 
should ride together. I will precede you, if you please.' 
And he was about to set spur to the grey mare, when 
the half -drunken fellow, reaching over, laid his hand 
upon the rein. 

4 Hark you,' he said, prince or no prince, that is not 
how one man should conduct himself with another. 
What ! You'll ride with me incog, and set me talking ! 
But if I know you, you'll preshede me, if you please ! 


42 


PRINCE OTTO 


Spy ! ’ And the fellow, crimson with drink and injured 
vanity, almost spat the word into the Prince’s face. 

A horrid confusion came over Otto. He perceived 
that he had acted rudely, grossly presuming on his sta- 
tion. And perhaps a little shiver of physical alarm 
mingled with his remorse, for the fellow was very pow- 
erful and not more than half in the possession of his 
senses. ‘ Take your hand from my rein/ he said, with a 
sufficient assumption of command ; and when the man, 
rather to his wonder, had obeyed : f You should under- 
stand, sir/ he added, f that while I might be glad to ride 
with you as one person of sagacity with another, and so 
receive your true opinions, it would amuse me very little 
to hear the empty compliments you would address to me 
as Prince.’ 

‘ You think I would lie, do you ?’ cried the man 
with the bottle, purpling deeper. 

* I know you would/ returned Otto, entering entirely 
into his self-possession. ‘ You would not even show me 
the medal you wear about your neck.’ For he had 
caught a glimpse of a green ribbon at the fellow’s 
throat. 

The change was instantaneous : the red face became 
mottled with yellow ; a thick -fingered, tottering hand 
made a clutch at the tell-tale ribbon. f Medal ! ’ the 
man cried, wonderfully sobered. * I have no medal.’ 

* Pardon me/ said the Prince. f I will even tell you 
what that medal bears : a Phoenix burning, with the 


A ROMANCE 


43 


word Libertas / The medallist remaining speechless, 
* You are a pretty fellow/ continued Otto, smiling, ‘ to 
complain of incivility from the man whom you conspire 
to murder/ 

‘ Murder ! 9 protested the man. ‘ Nay, never that ; 
nothing criminal for me ! 9 

‘ You are strangely misinformed/ said Otto. ‘ Con- 
spiracy itself is criminal, and insures the pain of death. 
Nay, sir, death it is ; I will guarantee my accuracy. 
Not that you need be so deplorably affected, for I am 
no officer. But those who mingle with politics should 
look at both sides of the medal/ 

‘ Your Highness . . / began the knight of the bottle. 

‘ Nonsense ! you are a Bepublican/ cried Otto ; ‘what 
have you to do with highnesses ? But let us continue 
to ride forward. Since you so much desire it, I cannot 
find it in my heart to deprive you of my company. 
And for that matter, I have a question to address to 
you. Why, being so great a body of men — for you are 
a great body — fifteen thousand, I have heard, but that 
will be understated ; am I right ? , 

The man gurgled in his throat. 

* Why, then, being so considerable a party/ resumed 
Otto, ‘do you not come before me boldly with your 
wants ? — what do I say ? with your commands ? Have 
I the name of being passionately devoted to my .throne ? 
I can scarce suppose it. Come, then ; show me your 
majority, and I will instantly resign. Tell this to your 


44 


PRINCE OTTO 


friends ; assure them from me of my docility ; assure 
them that, however they conceive of my deficiencies, 
they cannot suppose me more unfit to be a ruler than 
I do myself. I am one of the worst princes in Europe ; 
will they improve on that ? ’ 

f Far he it from me . . / the man began. 

* See, now, if you will not defend my government ! 9 
cried Otto. f If I were you, I would leave conspiracies. 
You are as little fit to he a conspirator as I to be a king/ 

f One thing I will say out/ said the man. * It is not 
so much you that we complain of ; it’s your lady/ 

* Not a word, sir/ said the Prince ; and then after a 
moment’s pause, and in tones of some anger and con- 
tempt : ‘ I once more advise you to have done with 
politics/ he added ; * and when next I see you, let me 
see you sober. A morning drunkard is the last man 
to sit in judgment even upon the worst of princes/ 

‘ I have had a drop, but I had not been drinking/ 
the man replied, triumphing in a sound distinction. 

* And if I had, what then ? Nobody hangs by me. 
But my mill is standing idle, and I blame it on your 
wife. Am I alone in that ? Go round and ask. Where 
are the mills ? Where are the young men that should 
be working ? Where is the currency ? All paralysed. 
No, sir, it is not equal ; for I suffer for your faults — 
I pay for them, by George, out of a poor man’s pocket. 
And what have you to do with mine ? Drunk or sober, 
I can see my country going to hell, and I can see whose 


A ROMANCE 


45 


fault it is. And so now, Fve said my say, and you may 
drag me to a stinking dungeon ; what care I ? Fve 
spoke the truth, and so I’ll hold hard, and not intrude 
upon your Highness’s society.’ 

And the miller reined up and, clumsily enough, 
saluted. 

‘ You will observe, I have not asked your name,’ said 
Otto. ‘ I wish you a good ride,’ and he rode on hard. 
But let him ride as he pleased, this interview with the 
miller was a cliokepear, which he could not swallow. 
He had begun by receiving a reproof in manners, and 
ended by sustaining a defeat in logic, both from a man 
whom he despised. All his old thoughts returned 
with fresher venom. And by three in the afternoon, 
coming to the cross-roads for Beckstein, Otto decided 
to turn aside and dine there leisurely. Nothing at 
least could be worse than to go on as he was going. 

In the inn at Beckstein he remarked, immediately 
upon his entrance, an intelligent young gentleman 
dining, with a book in front of him. He had his own 
place laid close to the reader, and with a proper apology, 
broke ground by asking what he read. 

e I am perusing,’ answered the young gentleman, 
' the last work of the Herr Doctor Hohenstockwitz, 
cousin and librarian of your Prince here in Grunewald 
— a man of great erudition and some lambencies of wit.’ 

‘ I am acquainted,’ said Otto, ‘ with the Herr Doctor, 
though not yet with his work.’ 


46 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ Two privileges that I must envy you/' replied the 
young man, politely : * an honour in hand, a pleasure in 
the hush/ 

f The Herr Doctor is a man much respected, I be- 
lieve, for his attainments ? 9 asked the Prince. 

tf He is, sir, a remarkable instance of the force of 
intellect/ replied the reader. f Who of our young men 
know anything of his cousin, all reigning Prince al- 
though he be ? Who but has heard of Doctor Gott- 
hold ? But intellectual merit, alone of all distinctions, 
has its base in nature/ 

f I have the gratification of addressing a student — 
perhaps an author ? 9 Otto suggested. 

The young man somewhat flushed. f I have some 
claim to both distinctions, sir, as you suppose/ said he ; 
‘ there is my card. I am the licentiate Eoederer, author 
of several works on the theory and practice of politics/ 

( You immensely interest me/ said the Prince ; ‘ the 
more so as I gather that here in Grunewald we are on 
the brink of revolution. Pray, since these have been 
your special studies, would you augur hopefully of such 
a movement ? 9 

‘ I perceive/ said the young author, with a certain 
vinegary twitch, • that you are unacquainted with my 
opuscula. I am a convinced authoritarian. I share 
none of those illusory, Utopian fancies with which em- 
pirics blind themselves and exasperate the ignorant. The 
day of these ideas is, believe me, past, or at least passing/ 


A ROMANCE 


47 


f When I look about me- ’ began Otto. 

f When you look about you/ interrupted the licen- 
tiate, f you behold the ignorant. But in the laboratory 
of opinion, beside the studious lamp, we begin already 
to discard these figments. We begin to return to 
nature’s order, to what I might call, if I were to bor- 
row from the language of therapeutics, the expectant 
treatment of abuses. You will not misunderstand me/ 
he continued : f a country in the condition in which 
we find Grunewald, a prince such as your Prince 
Otto, we must explicitly condemn ; they are behind the 
age. But I would look for a remedy not to brute con- 
vulsions, but to the natural supervenience of a more 
able sovereign. I should amuse you, perhaps/ added 
the licentiate, with a smile, ‘ I think I should amuse 
you if I were to explain my notion of a prince. We 
who have studied in the closet, no longer, in this age, 
propose ourselves for active service. The paths, we 
have perceived, are incompatible. I would not have a 
student on the throne, though I would have one near 
by for an adviser. I would set forward as prince a man 
of a good, medium understanding, lively rather than 
deep ; a man of courtly manner, possessed of the double 
art to ingratiate and command ; receptive, accommo- 
dating, seductive. I have been observing you since 
your first entrance. Well, sir, were I a subject of 
Grunewald I should pray heaven to set upon the seat 
of government just such another as yourself/ 


48 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ The devil, you would ! * exclaimed the Prince. 

The licentiate, Eoederer, laughed most heartily. ‘ I 
thought I should astonish you/ he said. ‘ These are 
not the ideas of the masses/ 

f They are not, I can assure you/ Otto said. 

‘ Or rather/ distinguished the licentiate, ‘ not to-day. 
The time will come, however, when these ideas shall 
prevail/ 

‘ You will permit me, sir, to doubt it/ said Otto. 

4 Modesty is always admirable/ chuckled the theorist. 

* But yet I assure you, a man like you, with such a man 
as, say. Doctor Gotthold at your elbow, would be, for 
all practical issues, my ideal ruler/ 

At this rate the hours sped pleasantly for Otto. But 
the licentiate unfortunately slept that night at Beck- 
stein, where he was, being dainty in the saddle and 
given to half stages. And to find a convoy to Mitt- 
walden, and thus mitigate the company of his own 
thoughts, the Prince had to make favour with a certain 
party of wood merchants from various states of the 
empire, who had been drinking together somewhat 
noisily at the far end of the apartment. 

The night had already fallen when they took the 
saddle. The merchants were very loud and mirthful ; 
each had a face like a norhvest moon ; and they played 
pranks with each others* horses, and mingled songs and 
choruses, and alternately remembered and forgot the 
companion of their ride. Otto thus combined society 


A ROMANCE 


49 


and solitude, hearkening now to their chattering and 
empty talk, now to the voices of the encircling forest. 
The starlit dark, the faint wood airs, the clank of the 
horseshoes making broken music, accorded together and 
attuned his mind. And he was still in a most equal 
temper when the party reached the top of that long hill 
that overlooks Mittwalden. 

Down in the bottom of a bowl of forest, the lights of 
the little formal town glittered in a pattern, street 
crossing street ; away by itself on the right, the palace 
was glowing like a factory. 

Although he knew not Otto, one of the wood mer- 
chants was a native of the state. ‘ There/ said he, 
pointing to the palace with his whip, ‘ there is JezebeTs 
inn/ 

What, do you call it that ? 9 cried another, laughing. 

‘ Ay, that's what they call it/ returned the Grune- 
walder ; and he broke into a song, which the rest, as 
people well acquainted with the words and air, instantly 
took up in chorus. Her Serene Highness Amalia Sera- 
phina. Princess of Grunewald, was the heroine, Gondre- 
mark the hero of this ballad. Shame hissed in Otto's 
ears. He reined up short and sat stunned in the 
saddle ; and the singers continued to descend the hill 
without him. 

The song went to a rough, swashing, popular air ; 
and long after the words became inaudible the swing 
of the music, rising and falling, echoed insult in the 
4 


50 


PRINCE OTTO 


Prince’s brain. He fled the sounds. Hard by him on 
his right a road struck towards the palace, and he fol- 
lowed it through the thick shadows and branching 
alleys of the park. It was a busy place on a fine sum- 
mer’s afternoon, when the court and burghers met and 
saluted ; but at that hour of the night in the early 
spring it was deserted to the roosting birds. Hares 
rustled among the covert ; here and there a statue stood 
glimmering, with its eternal gesture ; here and there 
the echo of an imitation temple clattered ghostly to the 
trampling of the mare. Ten minutes brought him to 
the upper end of his own home garden, where the small 
stables opened, over a bridge, upon the park. The yard 
clock was striking the hour of ten ; so was the big bell 
in the palace bell-tower ; and, farther off, the belfries of 
the town. About the stable all else was silent but the 
stamping of stalled horses and the rattle of halters. 
Otto dismounted ; and as he did so a memory came 
back to him : a whisper of dishonest grooms and stolen 
corn, once heard, long forgotten, and now recurring in 
the nick of opportunity. He crossed the bridge, and, 
going up to a window, knocked six or seven heavy blows 
in a particular cadence, and, as he did so, smiled. 
Presently a wicket was opened in the gate, and a man’s 
head appeared in the dim starlight. 

‘ Nothing to-night,’ said a voice. 

■ Bring a lantern,’ said the Prince. 

‘ Hear heart a’ mercy!’ cried the groom. f Who’s that ?’ 


A ROMANCE 


51 


* It is I, the Prince/ replied Otto. ‘ Bring a lan- 
tern, take in the mare, and let me through into the 
garden/ 

The man remained silent for a while, his head still 
projecting through the wicket. 

‘ His Highness ! ’ he said at last. ‘ And why did 
your Highness knock so strange ? 9 

‘It is a superstition in Mittwalden/ answered Otto, 
‘that it cheapens corn/ 

With a sound like a sob the groom fled. He was 
very white when he returned, even by the light of the 
lantern ; and his hand trembled as he undid the fasten- 
ings and took the mare. 

‘Your Highness/ he began at last, ‘for God’s sake 
. . . / And there he paused, oppressed with guilt. 

‘ For God’s sake, what ? ’ asked Otto, cheerfully. 
‘ For God’s sake, let us have cheaper corn, say I. 
Good-night ! ’ And he strode off into the garden, 
leaving the groom petrified once more. 

The garden descended by a succession of stone ter- 
races to the level of the fish-pond. On the far side the 
ground rose again, and was crowned by the confused 
roofs and gables of the palace. The modern pillared 
front, the ball-room, the great library, the princely 
apartments, the busy and illuminated quarters of that 
great house, all faced the- town. The garden side was 
much older ; and here it was almost dark ; only a few 
windows quietly lighted at various elevations. The 


52 


PRINCE OTTO 


great square tower rose, thinning by stages like a tele- 
scope ; and on the top of all the flag hung motionless. 

The garden, as it now lay in the dusk and glimmer 
of the starshine, breathed of April violets. Under 
night's cavern arch the shrubs obscurely bustled. 
Through the plotted terraces and down the marble 
stairs the Prince rapidly descended, fleeing before un- 
comfortable thoughts. But, alas ! from these there is 
no city of refuge. And now, when he was about mid- 
way of the descent, distant strains of music began to 
fall upon his ear from the ball-room, where the court 
was dancing. They reached him faint and broken, but 
they touched the keys of memory ; and through and 
above them, Otto heard the ranting melody of the wood 
merchants' song. Mere blackness seized upon his mind. 
Here he was, coming home ; the wife was dancing, the 
husband had been playing a trick upon a lackey ; and 
meanwhile, all about them, they were a by-word to 
their subjects. Such a prince, such a husband, such a 
man, as this Otto had become ! And he sped the faster 
onward. 

Some way below he came unexpectedly upon a sentry ; 
yet a little further, and he was challenged by a second ; 
and as he crossed the bridge over the fish-pond, an 
officer making the rounds stopped him once more. 
The parade of watch was more than usual ; but curi- 
osity was dead in Otto's mind, and he only chafed at 
the interruption. The porter of the back postern 


A ROMANCE 


53 


admitted him, and started to behold him so disordered. 
Thence, hasting by private stairs and passages, he came 
at length unseen to his own chamber, tore off his 
clothes, and threw himself upon his bed in the dark. 
The music of the hall-room still continued to a very 
lively measure ; and still, behind that, he heard in 
spirit the chorus of the merchants clanking down the 
hill. 



BOOK II 


OF LOVE AND POLITICS 







OF LOVE AND POLITICS 


CHAPTER I 

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LIBRARY 

At a quarter before six on the following morning 
Doctor Gotthold was already at his desk in the library ; 
and with a small cup of black coffee at his elbow, and 
an eye occasionally wandering to the busts and the long 
array of many-coloured books, was quietly reviewing the 
labours of the day before. He was a man of about 
forty, flaxen-haired, with refined features a little w r orn, 
and bright eyes somewhat faded. Early to bed and 
early to rise, his life was devoted to two things : eru- 
dition and Rhine wine. An ancient friendship existed 
latent between him and Otto ; they rarely met, but 
when they did it was to take up at once the thread of 
their suspended intimacy. Gotthold, the virgin priest of 
knowledge, had envied his cousin, for half a day, when 
he was married ; he had never envied him his throne. 

Reading was not a popular diversion at the court of 


58 


PRINCE OTTO 


Griinewald ; and that great, pleasant, sunshiny gallery 
of books and statues was, in practice, Gotthold’s private 
cabinet. On this particular Wednesday morning, how- 
ever, he had not been long about his manuscript when a 
door opened and the Prince stepped into the apartment. 
The Doctor watched him as he drew near, receiving, 
from each of the embayed windows in succession, a flush 
of morning sun ; and Otto looked so gay, and walked so 
airily, he was so well dressed and brushed and frizzled, 
so point-de-vice, and of such a sovereign elegance, that 
the heart of his cousin the recluse was rather moved 
against him. 

'Good morning, Gotthold/ said Otto, dropping in a 
chair. 

' Good morning, Otto/ returned the librarian. ' You 
are an early bird. Is this an accident, or do you begin 
reforming ? 9 

‘ It is about time, I fancy/ answered the Prince. 

' I cannot imagine/ said the Doctor. e I am too scep- 
tical to be an ethical adviser ; and as for good resolu- 
tions, I believed in them when I was young. They are 
the colours of hope’s rainbow.’ 

‘ If you come to think of it/ said Otto, ‘ I am not a 
popular sovereign.’ And with a look he changed his 
statement to a question. 

' Popular ? Well, there I would distinguish/ an- 
swered Gotthold, leaning back and joining the tips of 
his fingers. ' There are various kinds of popularity ; 


A ROMANCE 


59 


the bookish, which is perfectly impersonal, as unreal as 
the nightmare ; the politician's, a mixed variety ; and 
yours, which is the most personal of all. Women take 
to you ; footmen adore you ; it is as natural to like you 
as to pat a dog ; and were you a saw-miller you would 
he the most popular citizen in Grunewald. As a prince 
— well, you are in the wrong trade. It is perhaps philo- 
sophical to recognise it as you do.' 

* Perhaps philosophical ? ' repeated Otto. 

‘ Yes, perhaps. I would not be dogmatic,' answered 
Gotthold. 

‘ Perhaps philosophical, and certainly not virtuous,' 
Otto resumed. 

‘Not of a Roman virtue,' chuckled the recluse. 

Otto drew his chair nearer to the table, leaned upon it 
with his elbow, and looked his cousin squarely in the 
face. ‘ In short,' he asked, ‘ not manly ? ' 

‘ Well,' Gotthold hesitated, ‘ not manly, if you will.' 
And then with a laugh, ‘ I did not know that you gave 
yourself out to be manly,' he added. ‘ It was one of the 
points that I inclined to like about you ; inclined, I 
believe, to admire. The names of virtues exercise a 
charm on most of us ; we must lay claim to all of them, 
however incompatible ; we must all be both daring and 
prudent ; we must all vaunt our pride and go to the 
stake for our humility. Not so you. Without com- 
promise you were yourself : a pretty sight. I have 
always said it : none so void of all pretence as Otto.' 


60 


PRINCE OTTO 


( Pretence and effort both ! ? cried Otto. ‘ A dead dog 
in a canal is more alive. And the question, Gotthold, 
the question that I have to face is this : Can I not, with 
effort and self-denial, can I not become a tolerable 
sovereign ? 9 

‘ Never/ replied Gotthold. ‘ Dismiss the notion. 
And besides, dear child, you would not try/ 

f Nay, Gotthold, I am not to be put by/ said Otto. 
* If I am constitutionally unfit to be a sovereign, what 
am I doing with this money, with this palace, with 
these guards ? And I — a thief — am to execute the law 
on others ? 9 

‘ I admit the difficulty/ said Gotthold. 

f Well, can I not try ? 9 continued Otto. f Am I not 
bound to try ? And with the advice and help of such a 
man as you 9 

‘ Me ! 9 cried the librarian. ‘ Now, God forbid ! , 

Otto, though he was in no very smiling humour, 
could not forbear to smile. ‘ Yet I was told last night/ 
he laughed, f that with a man like me to impersonate, 
and a man like you to touch the springs, a very possible 
government could be composed/ 

*■ Now I wonder in what diseased imagination/ Gott- 
hold said, f that preposterous monster saw the light of 
day ?’ 

* It was one of your own trade — a writer, one 
Koederer/ said Otto. 

‘ Roederer ! an ignorant puppy ! 9 cried the librarian. 


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61 


f Yon are ungrateful/ said Otto. ‘ He is one of your 
professed admirers/ 

‘ Is he?' cried Gotthold, obviously impressed. ‘ Come, 
that is a good account of the young man. I must read 
his stuff again. It is the rather to his credit, as our 
views are opposite. The east and west are not more 
opposite. Can I have converted him ? But no ; the 
incident belongs to Fairyland/ 

‘You are not then/ asked the Prince, ‘an authori- 
tarian ? 9 

‘ I ? God bless me, no ! 9 said Gotthold. ‘ I am a 
red, dear child/ 

‘That brings me then to my next point, and by a 
natural transition. If I am so clearly unfitted for my 
post/ the Prince asked ; ‘ if my friends admit it, if my 
subjects clamour for my downfall, if revolution is pre- 
paring at this hour, must I not go forth to meet the 
inevitable ? should I not save these horrors and be 
done with these absurdities ? in a word, should I not 
abdicate ? 0, believe me, I feel the ridicule, the 

vast abuse of language/ he added, wincing, ‘but 
even a principulus like me cannot resign ; he must 
make a great gesture, and come buskined forth, and 
abdicate/ 

‘ Ay/ said Gotthold, ‘ or else stay where he is. What 
gnat has bitten you to-day ? Do you not know that you 
are touching, with lay hands, the very holiest inwards 
of philosophy, where madness dwells ? Ay, Otto, mad- 


62 


PRINCE OTTO 


ness ; for in the serene temples of the wise, the inmost 
shrine, which we carefully keep locked, is full of spiders* 
webs. All men, all, are fundamentally useless ; nature 
tolerates, she does not need, she does not use them : 
sterile flowers ! All — down to the fellow swinking in 
a byre, whom fools point out for the exception — all are 
useless ; all weave ropes of sand ; or like a child that 
has breathed on a window, write and obliterate, write 
and obliterate, idle words ! Talk of it no more. That 
way, I tell you, madness lies.* The speaker rose from 
his chair and then sat down again. He laughed a little 
laugh, and then, changing his tone, resumed : ‘ Yes, 
dear child, we are not here to do battle with giants ; we 
are here to be happy like the flowers, if we can be. It 
is because you could, that I have always secretly admired 
you. Cling to that trade ; believe me, it is the right 
one. Be happy, be idle, be airy. To the devil with all 
casuistry ! and leave the state to Gondremark, as here- 
tofore. He does it well enough, they say ; and his 
vanity enjoys the situation.* 

‘ Gotthold,* cried Otto, ‘what is this to me ? Useless 
is not the question ; I cannot rest at uselessness ; I must 
be useful or I must be noxious — one or other. I grant 
you the whole thing, prince and principality alike, is 
pure absurdity, a stroke of satire ; and that a banker or 
the man who keeps an inn has graver duties. But now, 
when I have washed my hands of it three years, and left 
all — labour, responsibility, and honour and enjoyment 


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63 


too, if there be any — to Gondremark and to — Seraphina 

He hesitated at the name, and Gotthold glanced 

aside. ' Well/ the Prince continued, 'what has come 
of it ? Taxes, army, cannon — why, iPs like a box of 
lead soldiers ! And the people sick at the folly of it, 
and fired with the injustice ! And war, too — I hear of 
war — war iij this teapot ! What a complication of 
absurdity and disgrace ! And when the inevitable end 
arrives — the revolution — who will be to blame in the 
sight of God, who will be gibbeted in public opinion ? 
I ! Prince Puppet ! 9 

‘ I thought you had despised public opinion/ said 
Gotthold. 

‘ I did/ said Otto, sombrely, ‘ but now I do not. I 
am growing old. And then, Gotthold, there is Sera- 
phina. She is loathed in this country that I brought 
her to and suffered her to spoil. Yes, I gave it her as 
a plaything, and she has broken it : a fine Prince, an 
admirable Princess ! Even her life — I ask you, Gott- 
hold, is her life safe ? 9 

' It is safe enough to-day/ replied the librarian ; ' but 
since you ask me seriously, I would not answer for 
to-morrow. She is ill-advised/ 

‘ And by whom ? By this Gondremark, to whom 
you counsel me to leave my country/ cried the Prince. 
' Rare advice ! The course that I have been following 
all these years, to come at last to this. 0, ill-advised ! 
if that were all ! See now, there is no sense in beating 


64 


PRINCE OTTO 


about the bush between two men : you know what 
scandal says of her ? 9 

Gotthold, with pursed lips, silently nodded. 

‘ Well, come, you are not very cheering as to my 
conduct as the Prince ; have I even done my duty as a 
husband ? 9 Otto asked. 

‘Nay, nay/ said Gotthold, earnestly and eagerly, 
* this is another chapter. I am an old celibate, an old 
monk. I cannot advise you in your marriage/ 

‘Nor do I require advice/ said Otto, rising. ‘All of 
this must cease/ And he began to walk to and fro with 
his hands behind his back. 

‘ Well, Otto, may God guide you ! 9 said Gotthold, 
after a considerable silence. ‘ I cannot/ 

‘ From what does all this spring ? 9 said the Prince, 
stopping in his walk. ‘ What am I to call it ? Diffi- 
dence ? The fear of ridicule ? Inverted vanity ? What 
matter names, if it has brought me to this ? I could 
never bear to be bustling about nothing ; I was ashamed 
of this toy kingdom from the first ; I could not tolerate 
that people should fancy I believed in a thing so 
patently absurd ! I would do nothing that cannot be 
done smiling. I have a sense of humour forsooth ! I 
must know better than my maker. And it was the 
same thing in my marriage/ he added more hoarsely. 
‘ I did not believe this girl could care for me ; I must 
not intrude ; I must preserve the foppery of my indif- 
ference. What an impotent picture 1 9 


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65 


‘ Ay, we have the same blood/ moralised Gotthold. 
* You are drawing, with fine strokes, the character of 
the born sceptic/ 

f Sceptic ? — coward ! 9 cried Otto. f Coward is the 
word. A springless, putty-hearted, cowering coward ! 9 

And as the Prince rapped out the words in tones of 
unusual vigour, a little, stout, old gentleman, opening a 
door behind Gotthold, received them fairly in the face. 
With his parrot's beak for a nose, his pursed mouth, his 
little goggling eyes, he was the picture of formality; 
and in ordinary circumstances, strutting behind the 
drum of his corporation, he impressed the beholder with 
a certain air of frozen dignity and wisdom. But at the 
smallest contrariety, his trembling hands and discon- 
nected gestures betrayed the weakness at the root. And 
now, when he was thus surprisingly received in that 
library of Mittwalden Palace, which was the customary 
haunt of silence, his hands went up into the air as if he 
had been shot, and he cried aloud with the scream of an 
old woman. 

f 0 ! ' he gasped, recovering, f Your Highness ! I beg 
ten thousand pardons. But your Highness at such an 
hour in the library ! — a circumstance so unusual as your 
Highness's presence was a thing I could not be expected 
to foresee/ 

‘ There is no harm done, Herr Cancellarius/ said 
Otto. 

‘ I Game upon the errand of a moment : some papers 
5 


PRINCE OTTO 


I left over night with the Herr Doctor/ said the Chan- 
cellor of Grunewald. f Herr Doctor, if you will kindly 
give me them, I will intrude no longer/ 

Gotthold unlocked a drawer and handed a bundle of 
manuscript to the old gentleman, who prepared, with 
fitting salutations, to take his departure. 

f Herr Greisengesang, since we have met/ said Otto, 
‘ let us talk/ 

* I am honoured by his Highnesses commands/ replied 
the Chancellor. 

‘ All has been quiet since I left ?’ asked the Prince, 
resuming his seat. 

f The usual business, your Highness/ answered Grei- 
sengesang ; ‘ punctual trifles : huge, indeed, if neg- 
lected, but trifles when discharged. Your Highness is 
most zealously obeyed/ 

* Obeyed, Herr Cancellarius ? 3 returned the Prince. 
* And when have I obliged you with an order ? Re- 
placed, let us rather say. But to touch upon these 
trifles ; instance me a few/ 

* The routine of government, from which your High- 
ness has so wisely dissociated his leisure . . / began 
Greisengesang. 

f We will leave my leisure, sir/ said Otto. ‘ Approach 
the facts/ 

f The routine of business was proceeded with/ replied 
the official, now visibly twittering. 

* It is very strange, Herr Cancellarius, that you should 


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67 


so persistently avoid my questions/ said the Prince. 
‘ You tempt me to suppose a purpose in your dulness. 
I have asked you whether all was quiet : do me the 
pleasure to reply/ 

f Perfectly — 0, perfectly quiet/ jerked the ancient 
puppet, with every signal of untruth. 

* I make a note of these w T ords/ said the Prince, 
gravely. * You assure me, your sovereign, that since 
the date of my departure nothing has occurred of which 
you owe me an account/ 

‘I take your Highness, I take the Herr Doctor to 
witness/ cried Greisengesang, ‘ that I have had no such 
expression/ 

‘.Halt ! 9 said the Prince ; and then, after a pause : 
‘ Herr Greisengesang, you are an old man, and you 
served my father before you served me/ he added. ‘It 
consists neither with your dignity nor mine, that you 
should babble excuses and stumble possibly upon un- 
truths. Collect your thoughts ; and then categorically 
inform me of all you have been charged to hide/ 

Gotthold, stooping very low over his desk, appeared 
to have resumed his labours ; but his shoulders 
heaved with subterranean merriment. The Prince 
waited, drawing his handkerchief quietly through his 
fingers. 

‘ Your Highness, in this informal manner/ said the 
old gentleman at last, ‘ and being unavoidably deprived 
of documents, it would be difficult, it would be impos- 


68 


PRINCE OTTO 


sible, to do justice to the somewhat grave occurrences 
which have transpired/ 

‘ I will not criticise your attitude/ replied the Prince. 
f I desire that, between you and me, all should be done 
gently ; for I have not forgotten, my old friend, that 
you were kind to me from the first, and for a period of 
years a faithful servant. I will thus dismiss the matters 
on which you waive immediate inquiry. But you have 
certain papers actually in your hand. Come, Herr 
Greisengesang, there is at least one point for which you 
have authority. Enlighten me on that/ 

‘ On that ? 9 cried the old gentleman. ‘ 0, that is 
a trifle ; a matter, your Highness, of police ; a detail 
of a purely administrative order. These are simply 
a selection of the papers seized upon the English 
traveller/ 

‘ Seized ? 9 echoed Otto. ‘ In what sense ? Explain 
yourself/ 

‘ Sir John Crabtree/ interposed Gotthold, looking up, 
‘was arrested yesterday evening/ 

‘ Is this so, Herr Cancellarius ? 9 demanded Otto, 
sternly. 

‘It was judged right, your Highness/ protested 
Greisengesang. ‘ The decree was in due form, in- 
vested with your Highness’s authority by procuration. 
I am but an agent ; I had no status to prevent the 
measure/ 

‘This man, my guest, has been arrested/ said the 


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69 


Prince. f On what grounds, sir ? With what colour of 
pretence ? 9 

The Chancellor stammered. 

f Your Highness will perhaps find the reason in these 
documents/ said Gotthold, pointing with the tail of his 
pen. 

Otto thanked his cousin with a look. f Give them to 
me/ he said, addressing the Chancellor. 

But that gentleman visibly hesitated to obey. f Baron 
von Gondremark/ he said, f has made the affair his 
own. I am in this case a mere messenger ; and as such, 
I am not clothed with any capacity to communicate the 
documents I carry. Herr Doctor, I am convinced you 
will not fail to bear me out/ 

f I have heard a great deal of nonsense/ said Gotthold, 
‘ and most of it from you ; but this heats all/ 

f Come, sir/ said Otto, rising, ‘ the papers I com- 
mand/ 

Herr Greisengesang instantly gave way. 
f With your Highnesses permission/ he said, f and 
laying at his feet my most submiss apologies, I will now 
hasten to attend his further orders in the Chancery/ 
f Herr Cancellarius, do you see this chair ? 9 said 
Otto. f There is where you shall attend my further 
orders. 0, now, no more ! 9 he cried, with a gesture, as 
the old man opened his lips. ‘ You have sufficiently 
marked your zeal to your employer ; and I begin to 
weary of a moderation you abuse/ 


70 


PRINCE OTTO 


The Chancellor moved to the appointed chair and 
took his seat in silence. 

f And now/ said Otto, opening the roll, ‘ what is all 
this ? it looks like the manuscript of a book/ 

‘ It is/ said Gotthold, * the manuscript of a book of 
travels/ 

* You have read it. Doctor Hohenstockwitz ?’ asked 
the Prince. 

Nay, I but saw the title page/ replied Gotthold. 
‘ But the roll was given to me open, and I heard no 
word of any secrecy/ 

Otto dealt the Chancellor an angry glance. 

* I see/ he went on. ‘ The papers of an author seized 
at this date of the world’s history, in a state so petty 
and so ignorant as Grunewald, here is indeed an igno- 
minious folly. Sir/ to the Chancellor, ‘1 marvel to 
find you in so scurvy an employment. On your con- 
duct to your Prince I will not dwell ; but to descend to 
be a spy ! For what else can it be called ? To seize 
the papers of this gentleman, the private papers of a 
stranger, the toil of a life, perhaps — to open, and to read 
them. And what have we to do with books ? The 
Herr Doctor might perhaps be asked for his advice ; but 
we have no index expurgatorius in Griinewald. Had 
we but that, we should be the most absolute parody and 
farce upon this tawdry earth/ 

Yet, even while Otto spoke, he had continued to 
unfold the roll ; and now, when it lay fully open, his 


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71 


eye rested on the title page elaborately written in red 
ink. It ran thus : 


‘ Memoirs 

of a Visit to the Various 
Courts of Europe, 
by 

Sir John Crabtree, Baronet.’ 

Below was a list of chapters, each bearing the name 
of one of the European Courts ; and among these the 
nineteenth and the last upon the list was dedicated 
to Griinewald. 

f Ah ! The Court of Griinewald ! ’ said Otto, * that 
should be droll reading/ And his curiosity itched 
for it. 

‘ A methodical dog, this English Baronet/ said Gott- 
hold. ‘ Each chapter written and finished on the spot. 
I shall look for his work when it appears/ 

It would be odd, now, just to glance at it/ said 
Otto, wavering. 

Gotthold’s brow darkened, and he looked out of 
window. 

But though the Prince understood the reproof, his 
weakness prevailed. f I will/ he said, with an uneasy 
laugh, ‘ I will, I think, just glance at it/ 

So saying, he resumed his seat and spread the travel- 
ler’s manuscript upon the table. 


CHAPTER II 


4 ON THE COURT OF GRUNEWALD,' BEING A PORTION 
OF THE TRAVELLER^ MANUSCRIPT 

It may well be asked (it was thus the English traveller 
began his nineteenth chapter') why I should have chosen 
Griinewald out of so many other states equally petty, 
formal, dull, and corrupt. Accident, indeed, decided, 
and not I ; but I have seen no reason to regret my visit. 
The spectacle of this small society macerating in its own 
abuses was not perhaps instructive, but I have found it 
exceedingly diverting. 

The reigning Prince, Otto Johann Friedrich, a young 
man of imperfect education, questionable valour, and 
no scintilla of capacity, has fallen into entire public con- 
tempt. It was with difficulty that I obtained an inter- 
view, for he is frequently absent from a court where his 
presence is unheeded, and where his only rdle is to be 
a cloak for the amours of his wife. At last, however, 
on the third occasion when I visited the palace, I found 
this sovereign in the exercise of his inglorious function, 
with the wife on one hand and the lover on the other. 
He is not ill-looking ; he has hair of a ruddy gold, 
which naturally curls, and his eyes are dark, a com- 


A ROMANCE 


73 


bination which I always regard as the mark of some 
congenital deficiency, physical or moral ; his features 
are irregular but pleasing ; the nose perhaps a little 
short, and the mouth a little womanish ; his address 
is excellent, and he can express himself with point. 
But to pierce below these externals is to come on a 
vacuity of any sterling quality, a deliquescence of the 
moral nature, a frivolity and inconsequence of purpose 
that mark the nearly perfect fruit of a decadent age. 
He has a worthless smattering of many subjects, but a 
grasp of none. ‘ I soon weary of a pursuit/ he said 
to me, laughing ; it would almost appear as if he took 
a pride in his incapacity and lack of moral courage. 
The results of his dilettantism are to be seen in every 
field ; he is a bad fencer, a second-rate horseman, 
dancer, shot ; he sings — I have heard him — and he 
sings like a child ; he writes intolerable verses in more 
than doubtful French ; he acts like a common amateur ; 
and in short there is no end to the number of the 
things that he does, and does badly. His one manly 
taste is for the chase. In sum, he is but a plexus of 
weaknesses ; the singing chambermaid of the stage, 
tricked out in man’s apparel and mounted on a circus 
horse. I have seen this poor phantom of a prince 
riding out alone or with a few huntsmen, disregarded 
by all, and I have been even grieved for the bearer 
of so futile and melancholy an existence. The last 
Merovingians may have looked not otherwise. 


74 


PRINCE OTTO 


The Princess Amalia Seraphina, a daughter of the 
Grand Ducal house of Toggenburg-Tannhaiiser, would 
be equally inconsiderable if she were not a cutting 
instrument in the hands of an ambitious man. She is 
much younger than the Prince, a girl of two-and- 
twenty, sick with vanity, superficially clever, and funda- 
mentally a fool. She has a red-brown rolling eye, too 
large for her face, and with sparks of both levity and 
ferocity ; her forehead is high and narrow, her figure 
thin and a little stooping. Her manners, her conversa- 
tion, which she interlards with French, her very tastes 
and ambitions, are alike assumed ; and the assumption 
is ungracefully apparent : Hoyden playing Cleopatra. 
I should judge her to be incapable of truth. In private 
life a girl of this description embroils the peace of 
families, walks attended by a troop of scowling swains, 
and passes, once at least, through the divorce court ; it 
is a common and, except to the cynic, an uninteresting 
type. On the throne, however, and in the hands of a 
man like Gondremark, she may become the authoress of 
serious public evils. 

Gondremark, the true ruler of this unfortunate coun- 
try, is a more complex study. His position in Grune- 
wald, to which he is a foreigner, is eminently false ; and 
that he should maintain it as he does, a very miracle of 
impudence and dexterity. His speech, his face, his 
policy, are all double : heads and tails. Which of the 
two extremes may be his actual design he were a bold 


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75 


man who should offer to decide. Yet; I will hazard the 
guess that he follows both experimentally, and awaits, 
at the hand of destiny, one of those directing hints 
of which she is so lavish to the wise. 

On the one hand, as Maire de Palais to the incompe- 
tent Otto, and using the love-sick Princess for a tool 
and mouthpiece, he pursues a policy of arbitrary power 
and territorial aggrandisement. He has called out the 
whole capable male population of the state to military 
service ; he has bought cannon ; he has tempted away 
promising officers from foreign armies ; and he now 
begins, in his international relations, to assume the 
swaggering port and the vague threatful language of a 
bully. The idea of extending Griinewald may appear 
absurd, but the little state is advantageously placed, its 
neighbours are all defenceless ; and if at any moment 
the jealousies of the greater courts should neutralise 
each other, an active policy might double the principal- 
ity both in population and extent. Certainly at least 
the scheme is entertained in the court of Mittwalden ; 
nor do I myself regard it as entirely desperate. The 
margravate of Brandenburgh has grown from as small 
beginnings to a formidable power ; and though it is 
late in the day to try adventurous policies, and the 
age of war seems ended. Fortune, we must not forget, 
still blindly turns her wheel for men and nations. 
Concurrently with, and tributary to, these warlike 
preparations, crushing taxes have been levied, journals 


76 


PRINCE OTTO 


have been suppressed, and the country, which three 
years ago was prosperous and happy, now stagnates in 
a forced inaction, gold has become a curiosity, and the 
mills stand idle on the mountain streams. 

On the other hand, in his second capacity of popular 
tribune, Gondremark is the incarnation of the free 
lodges, and sits at the centre of an organised conspiracy 
against the state. To any such movement my sympa- 
thies were early acquired, and I would not willingly let 
fall a word that might embarrass or retard the revolu- 
tion. But to show that I speak of knowledge, and not 
as the reporter of mere gossip, I may mention that I 
have myself been present at a meeting where the details 
of a republican Constitution were minutely debated and 
arranged ; and I may add that Gondremark was 
throughout referred to by the speakers as their captain in 
action and the arbiter of their disputes. He has taught 
his dupes (for so I must regard them) that his power of 
resistance to the Princess is limited, and at each fresh 
stretch of authority persuades them, with specious rea- 
sons, to postpone the hour of insurrection. Thus (to 
give some instances of his astute diplomacy) he salved 
over the decree enforcing military service, under the 
plea that to be well drilled and exercised in arms was 
even a necessary preparation for revolt. And the other 
day, when it began to be rumoured abroad that a war 
was being forced on a reluctant neighbour, the Grand 
Duke of Gerolstein, and I made sure it would be the 


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77 


signal for an instant rising, I was struck dumb with 
wonder to find that even this had been prepared and 
was to be accepted. I went from one to another in the 
Liberal camp, and all were in the same story, all had 
been drilled and schooled and fitted out with vacuous 
argument. ‘ The lads had better see some real fighting/ 
they said ; f and besides, it will be as well to capture 
Gerolstein : we can then extend to our neighbours the 
blessing of liberty on the same day that we snatch it for 
ourselves ; and the republic will be all the stronger to 
resist, if the kings of Europe should band themselves 
together to reduce it/ I know not which of the two I 
should admire the more : the simplicity of the multi- 
tude or the audacity of the adventurer. But such are 
the subtleties, such the quibbling reasons, with which 
he blinds and leads this people. How long a course so 
tortuous can be pursued with safety I am incapable of 
guessing ; not long, one would suppose ; and yet this 
singular man has been treading the mazes for five years, 
and his favour at court and his popularity among the 
lodges still endure unbroken. 

I have the privilege of slightly knowing him. Heav- 
ily and somewhat clumsily built, of a vast, disjointed, 
rambling frame, he can still pull himself together, and 
figure, not without admiration, in the saloon or the 
ball-room. His hue and temperament are plentifully 
bilious ; he has a saturnine eye ; his cheek is of a 
dark blue where he has been shaven. Essentially he 


78 


PRINCE OTTO 


is to be numbered among the man-haters, a convinced 
contemner of his fellows. Yet he is himself of a com- 
monplace ambition and greedy of applause. In talk, 
he is remarkable for a thirst of information, loving 
rather to hear than to communicate ; for sound and 
studious views; and, judging by the extreme short- 
sightedness of common politicians, for a remarkable 
prevision of events. All this, however, without grace, 
pleasantry, or charm, heavily set forth, with a dull 
countenance. In our numerous conversations, although 
he has always heard me with deference, I have been 
conscious throughout of a sort of ponderous finessing 
hard to tolerate. He produces none of the effect of a 
gentleman ; devoid not merely of pleasantry, but of 
all attention or communicative warmth of bearing. Ho 
gentleman, besides, would so parade his amours with 
the Princess ; still less repay the Prince for his long- 
suffering with a studied insolence of demeanour and 
the fabrication of insulting nicknames, such as Prince 
Featherhead, which run from ear to ear and create a 
laugh throughout the country. Gondremark has thus 
some of the clumsier characters of the self-made man, 
combined with an inordinate, almost a besotted, pride 
of intellect and birth. Heavy, bilious, selfish, inornate, 
he sits upon this court and country like an incubus. 

Bat it is probable that he preserves softer gifts for 
necessary purposes. Indeed, it is certain, although he 
vouchsafed none of it to me, that this cold and stolid 


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79 


politician possesses to a great degree the art of ingratia- 
tion, and can be all things to all men. Hence there has 
probably sprung up the idle legend that in private life 
he is a gross romping voluptuary. Nothing, at least, 
can well be more surprising than the terms of his con- 
nection with the Princess. Older than her husband, 
certainly uglier, and, according to the feeble ideas com- 
mon among women, in every particular less pleasing, he 
has not only seized the complete command of all her 
thought and action, but has imposed on her in public a 
humiliating part. I do not here refer to the complete 
sacrifice of every rag of her reputation ; for to many 
women these extremities are in themselves attractive. 
But there is about the court a certain lady of a dishev- 
elled reputation, a Countess von Rosen, wife or widow 
of a cloudy count, no longer in her second youth and 
already bereft of some of her attractions, who unequivo- 
cally occupies the station of the Baron's mistress. I had 
thought, at first, that she was but a hired accomplice, a 
mere blind or buffer for the more important sinner. A 
few hours' acquaintance with Madame von Rosen for 
ever dispelled the illusion. She is one rather to make 
than to prevent a scandal, and she values none of those 
bribes — money, honours, or employment — with which the 
situation might be gilded. Indeed, as a person frankly 
bad, she pleased me, in the court of Griinewald, like a 
piece of nature. 

The power of this man over the Princess is, therefore. 


80 


PRINCE OTTO 


without bounds. She has sacrificed to the adoration with 
which he has inspired her not only her marriage vow and 
every shred of public decency, but that vice of jealousy 
which is so much dearer to the female sex than either 
intrinsic honour or outward consideration. Nay, more : 
a young, although not a very attractive woman, and a 
Princess both by birth and fact, she submits to the tri- 
umphant rivalry of one who might be her mother as to 
years, and who is so manifestly her inferior in station. 
This is one of the mysteries of the human heart. But 
the rage of illicit love, when it is once indulged, appears 
to grow by feeding ; and to a person of the character and 
temperament of this unfortunate young lady, almost any 
depth of degradation is within the reach of possibility. 


CHAPTER III 


THE PRINCE AND THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER 

Bo far Otto read, with waxing indignation ; and here 
his fury overflowed. He tossed the roll upon the table 
and stood up. ‘ This man/ he said, f is a devil. A filthy 
imagination, an ear greedy of evil, a ponderous malignity 
of thought and language : I grow like him by the read- 
ing ! Chancellor, where is this fellow lodged ? 9 

‘ He was committed to the Flag Tower/ replied Grei- 
sengesang, * in the Gamiani apartment/ 

f Lead me to him/ said the Prince ; and then a thought 
striking him, f Was it for that/ he asked, ‘ that I found 
so many sentries in the garden ? 9 

‘ Your Highness, I am unaware/ answered Greisenge- 
sang, true to his policy. f The disposition of the guards 
is a matter distinct from my functions/ 

Otto turned upon the old man fiercely, hut ere he had 
time to speak, Gotthold touched him on the arm. He 
swallowed his wrath with a great effort. ‘It is well/ he 
said, taking the roll. ‘ Follow me to the Flag Tower/ 
The Chancellor gathered himself together, and the 
two set forward. It was a long and complicated voyage ; 

for the library was in the wing of the new buildings, and 
6 


82 


PRINCE OTTO 


the tower which carried the flag was in the old schloss 
upon the garden. By a great variety of stairs and cor- 
ridors, they came out at last upon a patch of gravelled 
court ; the garden peeped through a high grating with a 
flash of green ; tall, old, gabled buildings mounted on 
every side ; the Flag Tower climbed, stage after stage, 
into the blue ; and high over all, among the building 
daws, the yellow flag wavered in the wind. A sentinel 
at the foot of the tower stairs presented arms ; another 
paced the first landing ; and a third was stationed before 
the door of the extemporised prison. 

4 We guard this mud-bag like a jewel/ Otto sneered. 

The Gamiani apartment was so called from an Italian 
doctor who had imposed on the credulity of a former 
prince. The rooms were large, airy, pleasant, and looked 
upon the garden ; but the walls were of great thickness 
(for the tower was old), and the windows were heavily 
barred. The Prince, followed by the Chancellor, still 
trotting to keep up with him, brushed swiftly through 
the little library and the long saloon, and burst like a 
thunderbolt into the bedroom at the further end. Sir 
J ohn was finishing his toilet ; a man of fifty, hard, un- 
compromising, able, with the eye and teeth of physical 
courage. He was unmoved by the irruption, and bowed 
with a sort of sneering ease. 

e To what am I to attribute the honour of this visit ? 9 
he asked. 

‘ You have eaten my bread/ replied Otto, 4 you have 


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88 


taken my hand, yon have been received under my roof. 
When did I fail you in courtesy? What have you asked 
that was not granted as to an honoured guest ? And 
here, sir/ tapping fiercely on the manuscript, * here is 
your return/ 

‘ Your Highness has read my papers ? * said the Baro- 
net. ‘ I am honoured indeed. But the sketch is most 
imperfect. I shall now have much to add. I can say 
that the Prince, whom I had accused of idleness, is 
zealous in the department of police, taking upon him- 
self those duties that are most distasteful. I shall be 
able to relate the burlesque incident of my arrest, and 
the singular interview with which you honour me at 
present. For the rest, I have already communicated 
with my Ambassador at Vienna ; and unless you pro- 
pose to murder me, I shall be at liberty, whether you 
please or not, within the week. For I hardly fancy the 
future empire of Grunewald is yet ripe to go to war with 
England. I conceive I am a little more than quits. I 
owe you no explanation ; yours has been the wrong. 
You, if you have studied my writing with intelligence, 
owe me a large debt of gratitude. And to conclude, as 
I have not yet finished my toilet, I imagine the courtesy 
of a turnkey to V prisoner would induce you to with- 
draw/ 

There was some paper on the table, and Otto, sitting 
down, wrote a passport in the name of Sir John Crab- 
tree. 


84 


PRINCE OTTO 


"Affix the seal, Herr Cancellarius,’ he said, in his 
most princely manner, as he rose. 

Greisengesang produced a red portfolio, and affixed 
the seal in the unpoetic guise of an adhesive stamp ; 
nor did his perturbed and clumsy movements at all 
lessen the comedy of the performance. Sir John looked 
on with a malign enjoyment ; and Otto chafed, regret- 
ting, when too late, the unnecessary royalty of his com- 
mand and gesture. But at length the Chancellor had 
finished his piece of prestidigitation, and, without wait- 
ing for an order, had countersigned the passport. Thus 
regularised he returned it to Otto with a bow. 

"You will now,” said the Prince, " order one of my 
own carriages to be prepared ; see it, with your own 
eyes, charged with Sir John’s effects, and have it wait- 
ing within the hour behind the Pheasant House. Sir 
John departs this morning for Vienna.’ 

The Chancellor took his elaborate departure. 

" Here, sir, is your passport,’ said Otto, turning to the 
Baronet. " I regret it from my heart that you have met 
inhospitable usage.’ 

"Well, there will be no English war,’ returned Sir John. 

" Hay, sir,’ said Otto, " you surely owe me your civil- 
ity. Matters are now changed, and we stand again 
upon the footing of two gentlemen. It was not I who 
ordered your arrest ; I returned late last night from 
hunting ; and as you cannot blame me for your impris- 
onment, you may even thank me for your freedom.’ 


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85 


' And yet you read my papers/ said the traveller, 
shrewdly. 

€ There, sir, I was wrong/ returned Otto ; f and for 
that I ask your pardon. You can scarce refuse it, for 
your own dignity, to one who is a plexus of weaknesses. 
Nor was the fault entirely mine. Had the papers been 
innocent, it would have been at most an indiscretion. 
Your own guilt is the sting of my offence/ 

Sir John regarded Otto with an approving twinkle ; 
then he bowed, but still in silence. 

‘ Well, sir, as you are now at your entire disposal, I 
have a favour to beg of your indulgence/ continued the 
Prince. f I have to request that you will walk with me 
alone into the garden so soon as your convenience per- 
mits/ 

‘ From the moment that I am a free man/ Sir John 
replied, this time with perfect courtesy, ‘ I am wholly at 
your Highnesses command ; and if you will excuse a 
rather summary toilet, I will even follow you as I am/ 

f I thank you, sir/ said Otto. 

So without more delay, the Prince leading, the pair 
proceeded down through the echoing stairway of the 
tower, and out through the grating, into the ample air 
and sunshine of the morning, and among the terraces 
and flower-beds of the garden. They crossed the fish- 
pond, where the carp were leaping as thick as bees ; they 
mounted, one after another, the various flights of stairs, 
snowed upon, as they went, with April blossoms, and 


86 


PRINCE OTTO 


marching in time to the great orchestra of birds. Nor 
did Otto pause till they had reached the highest terrace 
of the garden. Here was a gate into the park,, and hard 
by, under a tuft of laurel, a marble garden seat. Hence 
they looked down on the green tops of many elm-trees, 
where the rooks were busy ; and, beyond that, upon the 
palace roof, and the yellow banner flying in the blue. 
‘I pray you to be seated, sir/ said Otto. 

Sir John complied without a word ; and for some 
seconds Otto walked to and fro before him, plunged in 
angry thought. The birds were all singing for a wager. 

* Sir/ said the prince at length, turning towards the 
Englishman, f you are to me, except by the conventions 
of society, a perfect stranger. Of your character and 
wishes I am ignorant. I have never wittingly disobliged 
you. There is a difference in station, which I desire to 
waive. I would, if you still think me entitled to so 
much consideration — I would be regarded simply as a 
gentleman. Now, sir, I did wrong to glance at these 
papers, which I here return to you ; but if curiosity be 
undignified, as I am free to own, falsehood is both 
cowardly and cruel. I opened your roll ; and what did 
I find — what did I find about my wife ? Lies ! 9 he 
broke out. « They are lies ! There are not, so help 
me God ! four words of truth in your intolerable libel ! 
You are a man ; you are old, and might be the girTs 
father ; you are a gentleman ; you are a scholar, and 
have learned refinement ; and you rake together all this 


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87 


vulgar scandal, and propose to print it in a public book ! 
Such is your chivalry ! But, thank God, sir, she has 
still a husband. You say, sir, in that paper in your 
hand, that I am a bad fencer ; I have to request from 
you a lesson in the art. The park is close behind ; yon- 
der is the Pheasant House, where you will find your car- 
riage ; should I fall, you know, sir — you have written it 
in your paper — how little my movements are regarded ; 
I am in the custom of disappearing ; it will be one 
more disappearance ; and long before it has awakened 
a remark, you may be safe across the border/ 

‘You will observe/ said Sir John, ‘that what you 
ask is impossible/ 

‘ And if I struck you ? 9 cried the Prince, with a 
sudden menacing flash. 

‘ It would be a cowardly blow/ returned the Baronet, 
unmoved, ‘for it would make no change. I cannot 
draw upon a reigning sovereign/ 

‘And it is this man, to whom you dare not offer 
satisfaction, that you choose to insult V cried Otto. 

‘ Pardon me/ said the traveller, ‘ you are unjust. It 
is because you are a reigning sovereign that I cannot 
fight with you ; and it is for the same reason that I 
have a right to criticise your action and your wife. 
You are in everything a public creature ; you belong 
to the public, body and bone. You have with you the 
law, the muskets of the army, and the eyes of spies. 
We, on our side, have but one weapon — truth/ 


88 


PRINCE OTTO 


* Truth ! ’ echoed the Prince, with a gesture. 

There was another silence. 

‘ Your Highness/ said Sir John at last, ‘ you must 
not expect grapes from a thistle. I am old and a cynic. 
Nobody cares a rush for me ; and on the whole, after 
the present interview, I scarce know anybody that I 
like better than yourself. You see, I have changed 
my mind, and have the uncommon virtue to avow the 
change. I tear up this stuff before you, here in your 
own garden ; I ask your pardon, I ask the pardon of 
the Princess ; and I give you my word of honour as a 
gentleman and an old man, that when my book of travels 
shall appear it shall not contain so much as the name of 
Grriinewald. And yet it was a racy chapter ! But had 
your Highness only read about the other courts ! I am 
a carrion crow ; but it is not my fault, after all, that the 
world is such a nauseous kennel/ 

‘ Sir/ said Otto, ‘ is the eye not jaundiced ? , 

‘ Nay/ cried the traveller, ‘ very likely. I am one 
who goes sniffing ; I am no poet. I believe in a better 
future for the world ; or, at all accounts, I do most 
potently disbelieve in the present. Rotten eggs is the 
burthen of my song. But indeed, your Highness, when 
I meet with any merit, I do not think that I am slow to 
recognise it. This is a day that I shall still recall with 
gratitude, for I have found a sovereign with some 
manly virtues ; and for once — old courtier and old radi- 
cal as I am — it is from the heart and quite sincerely that 


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89 


I can request the honour of kissing your Highness’s 
hand ?’ 

‘ Nay, sir/ said Otto, ' to my heart ! ’ 

And the Englishman, taken at unawares, was clasped 
for a moment in the Prince’s arms. 

' And now, sir,’ added Otto, ' there is the Pheasant 
House ; close behind it you will find my carriage, which 
I pray you to accept. God speed you to Vienna ! ’ 

* In the impetuosity of youth,’ replied Sir John, ' your 
Highness has overlooked one circumstance. I am still 
fasting.’ 

' Well, sir,’ said Otto, smiling, 'you are your own 
master ; you may go or stay. But I warn you, your 
friend may prove less powerful than your enemies. The 
Prince, indeed, is thoroughly on your side ; he has all 
the will to help ; but to whom do I speak ? — you know 
better than I do, he is not alone in Grunewald.’ 

‘ There is a deal in position/ returned the traveller, 
gravely nodding. f Gondremark loves to temporise ; his 
policy is below ground, and he fears all open courses ; 
and now that I have seen you act with so much spirit, I 
will cheerfully risk myself on your protection. Who 
knows ? You may be yet the better man.’ 

‘ Do you indeed believe so ? ’ cried the Prince. * You 
put life into my heart !’ 

‘ I will give up sketching portraits/ said the Baronet. 
Tama blind owl ; I had misread you strangely. And 
yet remember this ; a sprint is one thing, and to run all 


90 


PRINCE OTTO 


day another. For I still mistrust your constitution ; 
the short nose, the hair and eyes of several complexions ; 
no, they are diagnostic ; and I must end, I see, as I 
began/ 

* I am still a singing chambermaid ? , said Otto. 

* Nay, your Highness, I pray you to forget what I had 
written/ said Sir John ; * I am not like Pilate ; and the 
chapter is no more. Bury it, if you love me/ 


CHAPTER IV 


WHILE THE PRINCE IS IN’ THE ANTE-ROOM . .. > 

Greatly comforted by the exploits of the morning, 
the Prince turned towards the Princess's ante-room, bent 
on a more difficult enterprise. The curtains rose before 
him, the usher called his name, and he entered the 
room with an exaggeration of his usual mincing and 
airy dignity. There were about a score of persons wait- 
ing, principally ladies ; it was one of the few societies 
in Griinewald where Otto knew himself to be popular ; 
and while a maid of honour made her exit by a side 
door to announce his arrival to the Princess, he moved 
round the apartment, collecting homage and bestowing 
compliments, with friendly grace. Had this been the 
sum of his duties, he had been an admirable monarch. 
Lady after lady was impartially honoured by his at- 
tention. 

‘ Madam/ he said to one, f how does this happen ? I 
find you daily more adorable.' 

f And your Highness daily browner,' replied the lady. 
‘ We began equal ; 0, there I will be bold : we have 
both beautiful complexions. But while I study mine, 
your Highness tans himself.' 


92 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ A perfect negro, madam ; and what so fitly — being 
beauty's slave?' said Otto. Madame Grafinski, when 
is our next play ? I have just heard that I am a bad 
actor.' 

f 0 del ! ' cried Madame Grafinski. ‘ Who could 
venture ? What a bear ! ' 

* An excellent man, I can assure you,' returned 
Otto. 

‘ 0, never ! 0, is it possible ! ' fluted the lady. 

4 Your Highness plays like an angel.' 

‘ You must be right, madam ; who could speak 
falsely and yet look so charming ? ' said the Prince. 

* But this gentleman, it seems, would have preferred me 
playing like an actor.' 

A sort of hum, a falsetto, feminine cooing, greeted 
the tiny sally ; and Otto expanded like a peacock. 
This warm atmosphere of women and flattery and idle 
chatter pleased him to the marrow. 

f Madame von Eisenthal, your coiffure is delicious,' 
he remarked. 

* Every one was saying so,' said one. 

f If I have pleased Prince Charming ? ' And Madame 
von Eisenthal swept him a deep curtsey with a killing 
glance of adoration. 

‘ It is new ? ' he asked. Vienna fashion.' 

f Mint new,' replied the lady, f for your Highness's 
return. I felt young this morning ; it was a premoni- 
tion. But why, Prince, do you ever leave us ?' 


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93 


‘ For the pleasure of the return/ said Otto. ‘ I am 
like a dog ; I must bury my hone, and then come back 
to gloat upon it/ 

f 0, a bone ! Fie, what a comparison ! You have 
brought back the manners of the wood/ returned the 
lady. 

‘ Madam, it is what the dog has dearest/ said the 
Prince. ‘ But I observe Madame von Rosen/ 

And Otto, leaving the group to which he had been 
piping, stepped towards the embrasure of a window 
where a lady stood. 

The Countess von Rosen had hitherto been silent, 
and a thought depressed, but on the approach of Otto 
she began to brighten. She was tall, slim as a nymph, 
and of a very airy carriage ; and her face, which was 
already beautiful in repose, lightened and changed, 
flashed into smiles, and glowed with lovely colour at 
the touch of animation. She was a good vocalist ; and, 
even in speech, her voice commanded a great range of 
changes, the low notes rich with tenor quality, the upper 
ringing, on the brink of laughter, into music. A gem 
of many facets and variable hues of fire ; a woman who 
withheld the better portion of her beauty, and then, 
in a caressing second, flashed it like a weapon full on 
the beholder ; now merely a tall figure and a sallow 
handsome face, with the evidences of a reckless temper ; 
anon opening like a flower to life and colour, mirth and 
tenderness : — Madame von Rosen had always a dagger 


94 


PRINCE OTTO 


in reserve for the despatch of ill-assured admirers. 
She met Otto with the dart of tender gaiety. 

‘You have come to me at last, Prince Cruel/ she 
said. ‘ Butterfly ! Well, and am I not to kiss your 
hand ? 9 she added. 

‘Madam, it is I who must kiss yours/ And Otto 
bowed and kissed it. 

‘ You deny me every indulgence/ she said, smil- 
ing. 

‘ And now what news in Court ? 9 inquired the Prince. 
‘ I come to you for my gazette/ 

‘ Ditch-water ! 9 she replied. ‘ The world is all asleep, 
grown grey in slumber ; I do not remember any waking 
movement since quite an eternity ; and the last thing in 
the nature of a sensation was the last time my governess 
was allowed to box my ears. But yet I do myself and 
your unfortunate enchanted palace some injustice. 
Here is the last — 0 positively ! 5 And she told him the 
story from behind her fan, with many glances, many 
cunning strokes of the narrator’s art. The others had 
drawn away, for it was understood that Madame von 
Rosen was in favour with the Prince. None the less, 
however, did the Countess lower her voice at times to 
within a semitone of whispering ; and the pair leaned 
together over the narrative. 

‘ Do you know/ said Otto, laughing, ‘ you are the 
only entertaining woman on this earth ! 9 

‘ 0, you have found out so much/ she cried. 


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95 


‘ Yes, madam, I grow wiser with advancing years/ he 
returned. 

‘ Years ! 9 she repeated. ‘ Do you name the traitors ? 
I do not believe in years ; the calendar is a delusion/ 

‘You must be right, madam/ replied the Prince. 

‘ For six years that we have been good friends, I have 
observed you to grow younger/ 

* Flatterer ! 9 cried she, and then with a change, ‘ But 
why should I say so/ she added, { when I protest I think 
the same ? A week ago I had a council with my Father 
Director, the glass ; and the glass replied, “Not yet ! ” 
I confess my face in this way once a month. 0 ! a very 
solemn moment. Do you know what I shall do when 
the mirror answers, “ Now” ? 9 

6 1 cannot guess/ said he. 

* No more can 1/ returned the Countess. f There is 
such a choice ! Suicide, gambling, a nunnery, a volume 
of memoirs, or politics — the last, I am afraid/ 

‘ It is a dull trade/ said Otto. 

f Nay/ she replied, ‘ it is a trade I rather like. It is, 
after all, first cousin to gossip, which no one can deny to 
be amusing. For instance, if I were to tell you that the 
Princess and the Baron rode out together daily to inspect 
the cannon, it is either a piece of politics or scandal, as I 
turn my phrase. I am the alchemist that makes the 
transmutation. They have been everywhere together 
since you left/ she continued, brightening as she saw 
Otto darken ; tf that is a poor snippet of malicious gossip 


96 


PRINCE OTTO 


— and they were everywhere cheered — and with that 
addition all becomes political intelligence/ 

* Let us change the subject/ said Otto. 

‘ I was about to propose it/ she replied, ‘ or rather 
to pursue the politics. Do you know ? this war is 
popular — popular to the length of cheering Princess 
Seraphina/ 

‘ All things, madam, are possible/ said the Prince ; 
‘ and this among others, that we may be going into war, 
but I give you my word of honour I do not know with 
whom/ 

‘ And you put up with it?' she cried. ‘I have no 
pretensions to morality ; and I confess I have always 
abominated the lamb, and nourished a romantic feeling 
for the wolf. 0, be done with lambiness ! Let us' see 
there is a prince, for I am weary of the distaff/ 

‘ Madam/ said Otto, ‘ I thought you were of that 
faction/ 

‘ I should be of yours, mon Prince, if you had one/ 
she retorted. * Is it true that you have no ambition ? 
There was a man once in England whom they called the 
kingmaker. Do you know/ she added, ‘ I fancy I could 
make a prince ? 9 

‘Some day, madam/ said Otto, ‘ I may ask you to help 
make a farmer/ 

‘ Is that a riddle ? 9 asked the Countess. 

‘It is/ replied the Prince, ‘and a very good one 
too.’ 


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97 


4 Tit for tat. I will ask you another/ she returned. 
‘ Where is Gondremark ? ’ 

‘ The Prime Minister ? In the prime-ministry, no 
doubt/ said Otto. 

‘ Precisely/ said the Countess ; and she pointed with 
her fan to the door of the Princess’s apartments. * You 
and I, mon Prince, are in the ante-room. You think 
me unkind/ she added. ‘ Try me and you will see. Set 
me a task, put me a question ; there is no enormity I am 
not capable of doing to oblige you, and no secret that I 
am not ready to betray.’ 

Nay, madam, but I respect my friend too much/ he 
answered, kissing her hand. ( I would rather remain 
ignorant of all. We fraternise like foemen soldiers at 
the outposts, hut let each be true to his own army.’ 

f Ah/ she cried, ‘ if all men were generous like you, 
it would be worth while to be a woman ! ’ Yet, judging 
by her looks, his generosity, if anything, had disap- 
pointed her ; she seemed to seek a remedy, and, having- 
found it, brightened once more. ‘ And now/ she said, 
‘ may I dismiss my sovereign ? This is rebellion and 
a cas vendable ; but what am I to do ? My bear is 
jealous ! ’ 

f Madam, enough ! ’ cried Otto. f Ahasuerus reaches 
you the sceptre ; more, he will obey you in all points. 
I should have been a dog to come to whistling.’ 

And so the Prince departed, and fluttered round Gra- 
finski and von Eisenthal. But the Countess knew the 


98 


PRINCE OTTO 


use of her offensive weapons, and had left a pleasant 
arrow in the Prince’s heart. That Gondremark was 
jealous — here was an agreeable revenge ! And Madame 
von Rosen, as the occasion of the jealousy, appeared to 
him in a new light. 


CHAPTER Y 


o « . GONDREMARK IS IN' MY LADY^S CHAMBER 

The Countess von Rosen spoke the truth. The great 
Prime Minister of Grunewald was already closeted with 
Seraphina. The toilet was over; and the Princess, 
tastefully arrayed, sat face to face with a tall mirror. 
Sir John's description was unkindly true, true in terms 
and yet a libel, a misogynistic masterpiece. Her fore- 
head was perhaps too high, but it became her ; her fig- 
ure somewhat stooped, but every detail was formed and 
finished like a gem ; her hand, her foot, her ear, the set 
of her comely head, were all dainty and accordant ; if 
she was not beautiful, she was vivid, changeful, col- 
oured, and pretty with a thousand various prettinesses ; 
and her eyes, if they indeed rolled too consciously, yet 
rolled to purpose. They were her most attractive feat- 
ure, yet they continually bore eloquent false witness to 
her thoughts ; for while she herself, in the depths of 
her immature, unsoftened heart, was given altogether to 
manlike ambition and the desire of power, the eyes 
were by turns bold, inviting, fiery, melting, and artful, 
like the eyes of a rapacious syren. And artful, in a 
L.ofC. 


100 


PRINCE OTTO 


sense, she was. Chafing that she was not a man and 
could not shine by action, she had conceived a woman’s 
part, of answerable domination ; she sought to subju- 
gate for by-ends, to rain influence and be fancy free ; 
and while she loved not man, loved to see man obey her. 
It is a common girl's ambition. Such was perhaps that 
lady of the glove, who sent her lover to the lions. But 
the snare is laid alike for male and female, and the 
world most artfully contrived. 

Near her, in a low chair, Gondremark had arranged 
his limbs into a cat-like attitude, high-shouldered, 
stooping, and submiss. The formidable blue jowl of the 
man, and the dull bilious eye, set perhaps a higher 
value on his evident desire to please. His face was 
marked by capacity, temper, and a kind of bold, pirat- 
ical dishonesty which it would be calumnious to call 
deceit. His manners, as he smiled upon the Princess, 
were overfine, yet hardly elegant. 

‘ Possibly/ said the Baron, ‘ I should now proceed to 
take my leave. I must not keep my sovereign in the 
ante-room. Let us come at once to a decision/ 

f It cannot, cannot be put otf ? 9 she asked. 

*' It is impossible/ answered Gondremark. f Your 
Highness sees it for herself. In the earlier stages, we 
might imitate the serpent; but for the ultimatum, there 
is no choice but to be bold like lions. Had the Prince 
chosen to remain away, it had been better ; but we have 
gone too far forward to delay/ 


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101 


‘ What can have brought him?* she cried. "To-day 
of all days ?’ 

‘ The marplot, madam, has the instinct of his nature/ 
returned Gondremark. " But you exaggerate the peril. 
Think, madam, how far we have prospered, and against 
what odds ! Shall a Featherhead ? — but no ! , And he 
blew upon his fingers lightly with a laugh. 

*' Featherhead/ she replied, " is still the Prince of 
Griinewald.’ 

"On your sufferance only, and so long as you shall 
please to be indulgent/ said the Baron. ‘ There are 
rights of nature ; power to the powerful is the law. If 
he shall think to cross your destiny — well, you have 
heard of the brazen and the earthen pot/ 

" Do you call me pot ? You are ungallant, Baron/ 
laughed the Princess. 

‘ Before we are done with your glory, I shall have 
called you by many different titles/ he replied. 

The girl flushed with pleasure. e But Frederic is 
still the Prince, Monsieur le Flatteur / she said. " You 
do not propose a revolution ? — you of all men ? 9 

{ Dear madam, when it is already made ! , he cried. 
‘ The Prince reigns indeed in the almanack ; but my 
Princess reigns and rules/ And he looked at her with 
a fond admiration that made the heart of Seraphina 
swell. Looking on her huge slave, she drank the 
intoxicating joys of power. Meanwhile he continued, 
with that sort of massive archness that so ill became 


102 


PRINCE OTTO 


him, ‘ She has but one fault ; there is but one danger 
in the great career that I foresee for her. May I name 
it ? may I be so irreverent ? It is in herself — her heart 
is soft/ 

‘Her courage is faint, Baron/ said the Princess. 
‘ Suppose we have judged ill, suppose we were de- 
feated ?’ 

‘ Defeated, madam ? 9 returned the Baron, with a 
touch of ill-humour. ‘ Is the dog defeated by the hare ? 
Our troops are all cantoned along the frontier ; in five 
hours the vanguard of five thousand bayonets shall be 
hammering on the gates of Brandenau ; and in all 
Gerolstein there are not fifteen hundred men who can 
manoeuvre. It is as simple as a sum. There can be no 
resistance/ 

‘ It is no great exploit/ she said. ‘ Is that what you 
call glory ? It is like beating a child/ 

‘ The courage, madam, is diplomatic/ he replied. 
‘ We take a grave step ; we fix the eyes of Europe, for 
the first time, on Griinewald ; and in the negotiations 
of the next three months, mark me, we stand or fall. 
It is there, madam, that I shall have to depend upon 
your counsels/ he added, almost gloomily. ‘If I had 
not seen you at work, if I did not know the fertility of 
your mind, I own I should tremble for the consequence. 
But' it is in this field that men must recognise their 
inability. All the great negotiators, when they have 
not been women, have had women at their elbows. 


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103 


Madame de Pompadour was ill served ; she had not 
found her Gondremark ; but what a mighty politician ! 
Catherine de Medici, too, what justice of sight, what 
readiness of means, what elasticity against defeat ! 
But alas ! madam, her Featherheads were her own 
children ; and she had that one touch of vulgarity, that 
one trait of the good-wife, that she suffered family ties 
and affections to confine her liberty/ 

These singular views of history, strictly ad usum 
Seraphince, did not weave their usual soothing spell 
over the Princess. It was plain that she had taken a 
momentary distaste to her own resolutions ; for she 
continued to oppose her counsellor, looking upon him 
out of half- closed eyes and with the shadow of a sneer 
upon her lips. * What boys men are ! 9 she said ; e what 
lovers of big words ! Courage, indeed ! If you had 
to scour pans, Herr von Gondremark, you would call it, 
I suppose. Domestic Courage ? 9 

‘ I would, madam/ said the Baron, stoutly, * if I 
scoured them well. I would put a good name upon 
a virtue ; you will not overdo it ; they are not so en- 
chanting in themselves/ 

‘ Well, but let me see/ she said. ‘ I wish to under- 
stand your courage. Wdiy we asked leave, like chil- 
dren ! Our grannie in Berlin, our uncle in Vienna, the 
whole family, have patted us on the head and sent us 
forward. Courage ? I wonder when I hear you ! 9 

‘ My Princess is unlike herself/ returned the Baron. 


104 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ She has forgotten where the peril lies. True, we have 
received encouragement on every hand ; but my Prin- 
cess knows too well on what untenable conditions ; and 
she knows besides how, in the publicity of the diet, 
these whispered conferences are forgotten and disowned. 
The danger is very real ’■ — he raged inwardly at having 
to blow the very coal he had been quenching — f none 
the less real in that it is not precisely military, but for 
that reason the easier to be faced. Had we to count 
upon your troops, although I share your Highness’s 
expectations of the conduct of Alvenau, we cannot for- 
get that he has not been proved in chief command. 
But where negotiation is concerned, the conduct lies 
with us ; and with your help, I laugh at danger.’ 

* It may be so,’ said Seraphina, sighing. ‘ It is else- 
where that I see danger. The people, these abominable 
people — suppose they should instantly rebel ? What a 
figure we should make in the eyes of Europe to have 
undertaken an invasion while my own throne was totter- 
ing to its fall ! ’ 

* Hay, madam,’ said Gondremark, smiling, ‘ here you 

are beneath yourself. What is it that feeds their dis- 
content ? What but the taxes ? Once we have seized 
Gerolstein, the taxes are remitted, the sons return cov- 
ered with renown, the houses are adorned with pillage, 
each tastes his little share of military glory, and behold 
us once again a happy family ! “Ay,” they will say, in 

each other’s long ears, “ the Princess knew what she 


A KOMANCE 


105 


was about ; she was in the right of it ; she has a head 
upon her shoulders ; and here we are, you see, better 
off than before.” But why should I say all this ? It 
is w T hat my Princess pointed out to me herself ; it 
was by these reasons that she converted me to this 
adventure/ 

‘ I think, Herr von Gondremark/ said Seraphina, 
somewhat tartly, * you often attribute your own sagacity 
to your Princess/ 

For a second Gondremark staggered under the shrewd- 
ness of the attack ; the next, he had perfectly recovered. 
‘ Do I ? 9 he said. f It is very possible. I have observed 
a similar tendency in your Highness.' 1 

It was so openly spoken, and appeared so just, that 
Seraphina breathed again. Her vanity had been alarmed, 
and the greatness of the relief improved her spirits. 
‘ Well/ she said, f all this is little to the purpose. We 
are keeping Frederic without, and I am still ignorant 
of our line of battle. Come, co-admiral, let us con- 
sult. . . . How am I to receive him now ? And what 
are we to do if he should appear at the council ? 9 

‘ Now/ he answered, * I shall leave him to my 
Princess for just now ! I have seen her at work. Send 
him off to his theatricals ! But in all gentleness/ he 
added. Would it, for instance, would it displease my 
sovereign to affect a headache ? 9 

• Never \’ said she. ‘ The woman who can manage, 
like the man who can fight, must never shrink from 


106 


PRINCE OTTO 


an encounter. The knight must not disgrace his 
weapons/ 

e Then let me pray my belle dame sans merci,’ he 
returned, e to affect the only virtue that she lacks. 
Be pitiful to the poor young man • affect an interest 
in his hunting ; be weary of politics ; find in his society, 
as it were, a grateful repose from dry considerations. 
Does my Princess authorise the line of battle ? 9 

‘ Well, that is a trifle/ answered Seraphina. ‘ The 
council — there is the point/ 

* The council ? 9 cried Gondremark. ‘ Permit me, 
madam/ And he rose and proceeded to flutter about 
the room, counterfeiting Otto both in voice and gesture 
not unhappily. “ What is there to-day, Herr von Gon- 
dremark ? Ah, Herr Cancellarius, a new wig ! You 
cannot deceive me ; I know every wig in Griinewald ; 
I have the sovereign's eye. What are these papers 
about ? 0, I see. 0, certainly. Surely, surely. I 

wager none of you remarked that wig. By all means. 
I know nothing about that. Dear me, are there as 
many as all that ? Well, you can sign them ; you have 
the procuration. You see, Herr Cancellarius, I knew 
your wig." And so/ concluded Gondremark, resuming 
his own voice, ‘ our sovereign, by the particular grace 
of God, enlightens and supports his privy councillors/ 

But when the Baron turned to Seraphina for approval, 
he found her frozen. ‘You are pleased to be witty, 
Herr von Gondremark/ she said, ‘ and have perhaps for- 


A ROMANCE 


107 


gotten where yon are. But these rehearsals are apt to 
be misleading. Your master, the Prince of Grunewald, 
is sometimes more exacting/ 

Gondremark cursed her in his soul. Of all injured 
vanities, that of the reproved buffoon is the most savage ; 
and when grave issues are involved, these petty stabs be- 
come unbearable. But Gondremark was a man of iron ; 
he showed nothing ; he did not even, like the common 
trickster, retreat because he had presumed, but held to 
his point bravely. ‘ Madam/ he said, ‘if, as you say, 
he prove exacting, we must take the bull by the horns/ 
‘We shall see/ she said, and she arranged her skirt 
like one about to rise. Temper, scorn, disgust, all the 
more acrid feelings, became her like jewels ; and she 
now looked her best. 

‘ Pray God they quarrel/ thought Gondremark. ‘ The 
damned minx may fail me yet, unless they quarrel. It 
is time to let him in. Zz — fight, dogs ! 9 Consequent 
on these reflections, he bent a stiff knee and chival- 
rously kissed the Princess's hand. ‘ My Princess/ he 
said, ‘ must now dismiss her servant. I have much to 
arrange against the hour of council/ 

‘ Go/ she said, and rose. 

And as Gondremark tripped out of a private door, 
she touched a bell, and gave the order to admit the 
Prince. 


CHAPTEE VI 


THE PRINCE DELIVERS A LECTURE OH MARRIAGE, 
WITH PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF DIVORCE 

With what a world of excellent intentions Otto 
entered his wife’s cabinet ! how fatherly, how tender ! 
how morally affecting were the words he had prepared ! 
Nor was Seraphina nnamiably inclined. Her usual fear 
of Otto as a marplot in her great designs was now 
swallowed up in a passing distrust of the designs them- 
selves. For Gondremark, besides, she had conceived an 
angry horror. In her heart she did not like the Baron. 
Behind his impudent servility, behind the devotion 
which, with indelicate delicacy, he still forced on her 
attention, she divined the grossness of his nature. So 
a man may be proud of having tamed a bear, and yet 
sicken at his captive’s odour. And above all, she had 
certain jealous intimations that the man was false, and 
the deception double. True, she falsely trifled with his 
love ; but he, perhaps, was only trifling with her vanity. 
The insolence of his late mimicry, and the odium of 
her own position as she sat and watched it, lay besides 
like a load upon her conscience. She met Otto almost 


A ROMANCE 


109 


with a sense of guilt, and yet she welcomed him as a 
deliverer from ugly things. 

But the wheels of an interview are at the mercy of a 
thousand ruts ; and even at Otto's entrance, the first 
jolt occurred. Gondremark, he saw, was gone ; but 
there was the chair drawn close for consultation ; and it 
pained him not only that this man had been received, 
but that he should depart with such an air of secrecy. 
Struggling with this twinge, it was somewhat sharply that 
he dismissed the attendant who had brought him in. 

‘ You make yourself at home, chez moi,’ she said, a 
little ruffled both by his tone of command and by the 
glance he had thrown upon the chair. 

‘ Madam/ replied Otto, ‘ I am here so seldom that I 
have almost the rights of a stranger.' 

‘ You choose your own associates, Frederic,' she said. 

‘I am here to speak of it,' he returned. ‘It is now 
four years since we were married ; and these four years, 
Seraphina, have not perhaps been happy either for you 
or for me. I am well aware I was unsuitable to be your 
husband. I was not young, I had no ambition, I was a 
trifler ; and you despised me, I dare not say unjustly. 
But to do justice on both sides, you must bear in mind 
how I have acted. When I found it amused you to 
play the part of Princess on this little stage, did I not 
immediately resign to you my box of toys, this Grune- 
wald ? And when I found I was distasteful as a hus- 
band, could any husband have been less intrusive ? 


110 


PEINCE OTTO 


You will tell me that I have no feelings, no preference, 
and thus no credit ; that I go before the wind ; that all 
this was in my character. And indeed, one thing is 
true, that it is easy, too easy, to leave things undone. 
But Ser&phina, I begin to learn it is not always wise. 
If I were too old and too uncongenial for your husband, 
I should still have remembered that I was the Prince of 
that country to which you came, a visitor and a child. 
In that relation also there were duties, and these duties 
I have not performed/ 

To claim the advantage of superior age is to give 
sure offence. c Duty ! 9 laughed Seraphina, * and on 
your lips, Frederic ! You make me laugh. What 
fancy is this ? Go, flirt with the maids and be a prince 
in Dresden China, as you look. Enjoy yourself, mon 
enfant , and leave duty and the state to us/ 

The plural grated on the Prince. ‘ I have enjoyed 
myself too much/ he said, ‘ since enjoyment is the 
word. And yet there were much to say upon the other 
side. You must suppose me desperately fond of hunt- 
ing. But indeed there were days when I found a great 
deal of interest in what it was courtesy to call my gov- 
ernment. And I have always had some claim to taste ; 
I could tell live happiness from dull routine ; and be- 
tween hunting, and the throne of Austria, and your 
society, my choice had never wavered, had the choice 
been mine. You were a girl, a bud, when you were 
given me * 


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111 


* Heayens ! 9 she cried, f is this to he a love scene ? 9 

f I am never ridiculous/ he said ; ‘ it is my only 
merit ; and you may be certain this shall be a scene of 
marriage a la mode. But when I remember the begin- 
ning, it is bare courtesy to speak in sorrow. Be just, 
madam : you would think me strangely uncivil to recall 
these days without the decency of a regret. Be yet a 
little juster, and own, if only in complaisance, that you 
yourself regret that past/ 

‘ I have nothing to regret/ said the Princess. * You 
surprise me. I thought you were so happy/ 

f Happy and happy, there are so many hundred ways/ 
said Otto. f A man may be happy in revolt ; he may be 
happy in sleep ; wine, change, and travel make him 
happy; virtue, they say, will do the like — I have not 
tried ; and they say also that in old, quiet, and habitual 
marriages there is yet another happiness. Happy, yes ; 
I am happy if you like ; but I will tell you frankly, I 
was happier when I brought you home/ 

* Well/ said the Princess, not without constraint, ‘ it 
seems you changed your mind/ 

* Yot 1/ returned Otto, ‘ I never changed. Do you 
remember, Seraphina, on our way home, when you saw 
the roses in the lane, and I got out and plucked them ? 
It was a narrow lane between great trees ; the sunset at 
the end was all gold, and the rooks were flying overhead. 
There were nine, nine red roses ; you gave me a kiss 
for each, and I told myself that every rose and every 


112 


PRINCE OTTO 


kiss should stand for a year of love. Well, in eighteen 
months there was an end. But do you fancy, Seraphina, 
that iny heart has altered ? * 

f I am sure I cannot tejl/ she said, like an automaton. 

‘It has not/ the Prince continued. "There is noth- 
ing ridiculous, even from a husband, in a love that owns 
itself unhappy and that asks no more. I built on sand ; 
pardon me, I do not breathe a reproach — I built, I sup- 
pose, upon my own infirmities ; but I put my heart in 
the building, and it still lies among the ruins/ 

e How very poetical ! 5 she said with a little choking 
laugh, unknown relentings, unfamiliar softnesses, mov- 
ing within her. " What would you be at ? 9 she added, 
hardening her voice. 

" I Avould be at this/ he answered ; * and hard it is to 
say. I would be at this : — Seraphina, I am your hus- 
band after all, and a poor fool that loves you. Under- 
stand/ he cried almost fiercely, ‘ I am no suppliant hus- 
band ; what your love refuses I would scorn to receive 
from your pity. I do not ask, I would not take it. And 
for jealousy, what ground have I ? A dog-in-the-manger 
jealousy is a thing the dogs may laugh at. But at least, 
in the world’s eye, I am still your husband ; and I ask 
you if you treat me fairly ? I keep to myself, I leave 
you free, I have given you in everything your will. What 
do you in return ? I find, Seraphina, that you have 
been too thoughtless. But between persons such as we, 
in our conspicuous station, particular care and a par- 


A ROMANCE 


113 


ticular courtesy are owing. Scandal is perhaps not easy 
to avoid ; but it is hard to bear/ 

‘ Scandal ! 9 she cried, with a deep breath. f Scandal ! 
It is for this you have been driving ! 9 

6 I have tried to tell you how I feel/ he replied. ‘ I 
have told you that I love you — love you in vain — a bitter 
thing for a husband ; I have laid myself open that I 
might speak without offence. And now that I have 
begun, I will go on and finish/ 

f I demand it/ she said. ‘ What is this about ? 9 
Otto flushed crimson. f I have to say what I would 
fain not/ he answered. ‘ I counsel you to see less of 
Gondremark/ 

‘ Of Gondremark ? And why she asked. 

‘ Your intimacy is the ground of scandal, madam/ 
said Otto, firmly enough — f of a scandal that is agony 
to me, and would be crushing to your parents if they 
knew it/ 

‘ You are the first to bring me word of it/ said she. 
e l thank you/ 

‘ You have perhaps cause/ he replied. ‘ Perhaps I 

am the only one among your friends 9 

e 0, leave my friends alone/ she interrupted. * My 
friends are of a different stamp. You have come to me 
here and made a parade of sentiment. When have I last 
seen you ? I have governed your kingdom for you in 
the meanwhile, and there I got no help. At last, when 
I am weary with a man's work, and you are weary of 
$ 


114 


PRINCE OTTO 


your playthings, you return to make me a scene of con- 
jugal reproaches — the grocer and his wife ! The posi- 
tions are too much reversed ; and you should under- 
stand, at least, that I cannot at the same time do your 
work of government and behave myself like a little 
girl. Scandal is the atmosphere in which we live, we 
princes ; it is what a prince should know. You play an 
odious part. Do you believe this rumour ? 9 

‘ Madam, should I be here ? 9 said Otto. 

f It is what I want to know ! 9 she cried, the tempest 
of her scorn increasing. ‘ Suppose you did — I say, sup- 
pose you did believe it ? 9 

f I should make it my business to suppose the con- 
trary/ he answered. 

* I thought so. 0, you are made of baseness ! 9 said 
she. 

‘ Madam/ he cried, roused at last, f enough of this. 
You wilfully misunderstand my attitude ; you outwear 
my patience. In the name of your parents, in my own 
name, I summon you to be more circumspect/ 

Ms this a request. Monsieur mon mart ? 9 she de- 
manded. 

( Madam, if I chose, I might command/ said Otto. 

f You might, sir, as the law stands, make me a pris- 
oner/ returned Seraphina. f Short of that you will gain 
nothing/ 

•'You will continue as before ? 9 he asked. 

* Precisely as before/ said she. ‘ As soon as this com- 


A ROMANCE 


115 


edy is over, I shall request the Freiherr yon Gondre- 
mark to visit me. Do you understand ? 9 she added, 
rising. f For my part, I have done/ 

‘ I will then ask the favour of your hand, madam/ 
said Otto, palpitating in every pulse with anger. 
have to request that you will visit in my society another 
part of my poor house. And reassure yourself — it will 
not take long — and it is the last obligation that you 
shall have the chance to lay me under/ 

‘ The last ? 9 she cried. f Most joyfully ! 9 

She offered her hand and he took it ; on each side 
with an elaborate affectation, each inwardly incandes- 
cent. He led her out by the private door, following 
where Gondremark had passed ; they threaded a cor- 
ridor or two, little frequented, looking on a court, until 
they came at last into the Prince’s suite. The first room 
was an armoury, hung all about with the weapons of 
various countries, and looking forth on the front ter- 
race. 

‘ Have you brought me here to slay me ? ’ she in- 
quired. 

f I have brought you, madam, only to pass on/ replied 
Otto. 

Next they came to a library, where an old chamberlain 
sat half asleep. He rose and bowed before the princely 
couple, asking for orders. 

' You will attend us here/ said Otto. 

The next stage was a gallery of pictures, where 


116 


PRINCE OTTO 


Seraphina’s portrait hung conspicuous, dressed for the 
chase, red roses in her hair, as Otto, in the first months 
of marriage, had directed. He pointed to it without a 
word ; she raised her eyebrows in silence ; and they 
passed still forward into a matted corridor where four 
doors opened. One led to Otto's bedroom ; one was the 
private door to Seraphina's. And here, for the first 
time, Otto left her hand, and stepping forward, shot 
the bolt. 

‘ It is long, madam,' said he, ‘ since it was bolted on 
the other side.' 

‘ One was effectual,' returned the Princess. ‘Is this 
all ?' 

‘ Shall I reconduct you ?' he asked, bowing. 

‘ I should prefer,' she asked, in ringing tones, ‘ the 
conduct of the Freiherr von Gondremark.' 

Otto summoned the chamberlain. ‘ If the Freiherr 
von Gondremark is in the palace,' he said, ‘bid him 
attend the Princess here.' And when the official had 
departed, ‘Can I do more to serve you, madam?' the 
Prince asked. 

‘ Thank you, no. I have been much amused,' she 
answered. 

‘ I have now,' continued Otto, ‘ given you your liberty 
complete. This has been for you a miserable marriage.' 

‘ Miserable ! ' said she. 

‘It has been made light to you; it shall be lighter 
still,' continued the Prince. ‘ But one thing, madam. 


A ROMANCE 


117 


you must still continue to bear — my father’s name, 
which is now yours. I leave it in your hands. Let me 
see you, since you will have no advice of mine, apply 
the more attention of your own to bear it worthily.’ 

‘ Herr von Gondremark is long in coming,’ she re- 
marked. 

‘ 0 Seraphina, Seraphina ! ’ he cried. And that was 
the end of their interview. 

She tripped to a window and looked out ; and a little 
after, the chamberlain announced the Freiherr von 
Gondremark, who entered with something of a wild 
eye and changed complexion, confounded, as he was, 
at this unusual summons. The Princess faced round 
from the window with a pearly smile ; nothing but 
her heightened colour spoke of discomposure. Otto 
was pale, but he was otherwise master of himself. 

* Herr von Gondremark,’ said he, f oblige me so far : 
reconduct the Princess to her own apartment.’ 

The Baron, still all at sea, offered his hand, which was 
smilingly accepted, and the pair sailed forth through 
the picture-gallery. 

As soon as they were gone, and Otto knew the length 
and breadth of his miscarriage, and how he had done 
the contrary of all that he intended, he stood stupefied. 
A fiasco so complete and sweeping was laughable, even 
to himself : and he laughed aloud in his wrath. Upon 
this mood there followed the sharpest violence of re- 
morse ; and to that again, as he recalled his provocation. 


118 


PRINCE OTTO 


anger succeeded afresh. So he was tossed in spirit ; now 
bewailing his inconsequence and lack of temper, now 
flaming up in white hot indignation and a noble pity 
for himself. 

He paced his apartment like a leopard. There was 
danger in Otto, for a flash. Like a pistol, he could 
kill at one moment, and the next he might be kicked 
aside. But just then, as he walked the long floors in 
his alternate humours, tearing his handkerchief between 
his hands, he was strung to his top note, every nerve 
attent. The pistol, you might say, was charged. And 
when jealousy from time to time fetched him a lash 
across the tenderest of his feeling, and sent a string 
of her fire-pictures glancing before his mind's eye, the 
contraction of his face was even dangerous. He dis- 
regarded jealousy's inventions, yet they stung. In this 
height of his anger, he still preserved his faith in Sera- 
phina's innocence ; but the thought of her possible mis- 
conduct was the bitterest ingredient in his pot of sorrow. 

There came a knock at the door, and the chamberlain 
brought him a note. He took it and ground it in his 
hand, continuing his march, continuing his bewildered 
thoughts ; and some minutes had gone by before the 
circumstance came clearly to his mind. Then he 
paused and opened it. It was a pencil scratch from 
Gotthold, thus conceived : 

‘ The council is privately summoned at once. 

‘G. v. H.’ 


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119 


If the council was thus called before the hour, and 
that privately, it was plain they feared his interference. 
Feared : here was a sweet thought. Gotthold, too — 
Gotthold, who had always used and regarded him as a 
mere pleasant lad, had now been at the pains to warn 
him ; Gotthold looked for something at his hands. 
Well, none should be disappointed ; the Prince, too 
long beshadowed by the uxorious lover, should now re- 
turn and shine. He summoned his valet, repaired the 
disorder of his appearance with elaborate care ; and 
then, curled and scented and adorned, Prince Charming 
in every line, but with a twitching nostril, he set forth 
unattended for the council. 


CHAPTER VII 


THE PRINCE DISSOLVES THE COUNCIL 

It was as Gotthold wrote. The liberation of Sir 
John, Greisengesang’s uneasy narrative, last of all, the 
scene between Seraphina and the Prince, had decided 
the conspirators to take a step of hold timidity. There 
had been a period of bustle, liveried messengers speed- 
ing here and there with notes ; and at half-past ten in 
the morning, about an hour before its usual hour, the 
council of Griinewald sat around the hoard. 

It was not a large body. At the instance of Gondre- 
mark, it had undergone a strict purgation, and was now 
composed exclusively of tools. Three secretaries sat at 
a side table. Seraphina took the head ; on her right 
was the Baron, on her left Greisengesang ; below these 
Grafinski the treasurer, Count Eisenthal, a couple of 
non-combatants, and, to the surprise of all, Gotthold. 
He had been named a privy councillor by Otto, merely 
that he might profit by the salary ; and as he was never 
known to attend a meeting, it had occurred to nobody 
to cancel his appointment. His present appearance was 
the more ominous, coming when it did. Gondremark 
scowled upon him ; and the non-combatant on his right. 


A ROMANCE 


121 


intercepting this black look, edged away from one who 
was so clearly out of favour. 

* The hour presses, your Highness/ said the Baron ; 
‘ may we proceed to business ? 5 

‘ At once/ replied Seraphina. 

* Your Highness will pardon me/ said Gotthold ; ‘ but 
you are still, perhaps, unacquainted with the fact that 
Prince Otto has returned/ 

‘ The Prince will not attend the council/ replied Sera- 
phina, with a momentary blush. ‘ The despatches, Herr 
Cancellarius ? There is one for Gerolstein ? * 

A secretary brought a paper. 

* Here, madam/ said Greisengesang. ‘ Shall I read 
it?' 

‘We are all familiar with its terms/ replied Gondre- 
mark. ‘ Your Highness approves ?’ 

‘Unhesitatingly/ said Seraphina. 

‘It may then be held as read/ concluded the Baron. 
‘ Will your Highness sign ? ' 

The Princess did so ; Gondremark, Eisenthal, and one 
of the non-combatants followed suit ; and the paper was 
then passed across the table to the librarian. He pro- 
ceeded leisurely to read. 

‘ We have no time to spare, Herr Doctor/ cried the 
Baron, brutally. ‘ If you do not choose to sign on the 
authority of your sovereign, pass it on. Or you may 
leave the table/ he added, his temper ripping out. 

‘ I decline your invitation, Herr von Gondremark ; 


122 


PRINCE OTTO 


and my sovereign, as I continue to observe with regret, 
is still absent from the board/ replied the Doctor, 
calmly ; and he resumed the perusal of the paper, the 
rest chafing and exchanging glances. c Madam and 
gentlemen/ he said, at last, what I hold in my hand is 
simply a declaration of war/ 

‘ Simply/ said Seraphina, flashing defiance. 

‘ The sovereign of this country is under the same 
roof with us/ continued Gotthold, f and I insist he shall 
be summoned. It is needless to adduce my reasons ; you 
are all ashamed at heart of this projected treachery/ 

The council waved like a sea. There were various 
outcries. 

‘ You insult the Princess/ thundered Gondremark. 

‘ I maintain my protest/ replied Gotthold. 

At the height of this confusion the door was thrown 
open ; an usher announced, f Gentlemen, the Prince ! 9 
and Otto, with his most excellent bearing, entered the 
apartment. It was like oil upon the troubled waters ; 
every one settled instantly into his place, and Greisen- 
gesang, to give himself a countenance, became absorbed 
in the arrangement of his papers ; but in their eagerness 
to dissemble, one and all neglected to rise. 

‘ Gentlemen/ said the Prince, pausing. 

They all got to their feet in a moment ; and this 
reproof still further demoralised the weaker brethren. 

The Prince moved slowly towards the lower end of 
the table ; then he paused again, and, fixing his eye on 


A ROMANCE 


123 


Greisengesang, ‘How comes it, Herr Cancellarius/ he 
asked, ‘ that I have received no notice of the change of 
hour ? 9 

e Your Highness/ replied the Chancellor, ‘ her High- 
ness the Princess . . / and there paused. 

‘ I understood/ said Seraphina, taking him up, ‘ that 
you did not purpose to be present/ 

Their eyes met for a second, and Seraphina^s fell ; 
but her anger only burned the brighter for that private 
shame. 

‘And now, gentlemen/ said Otto, taking his chair, 
‘ I pray you to be seated. I have been absent : there 
are doubtless some arrears ; but ere we proceed to busi- 
ness, Herr Grafinski, you will direct four thousand 
crowns to be sent to me at once. Make a note, if you 
please/ he added, as the treasurer still stared in wonder. 

‘ Four thousand crowns ? 9 asked Seraphina. ‘ Pray, 
for what ? 9 

‘ Madam/ returned Otto, smiling, ‘ for my own pur- 
poses/ 

Gondremark spurred up Grafinski underneath the 
table. 

‘If your Highness will indicate the destination . . / 
began the puppet. 

‘ You are not here, sir, to interrogate your Prince/ 
said Otto. 

Grafinski looked for help to his commander; and Gon- 
dremark came to his aid, in suave and measured tones. 


124 


PRINCE OTTO 


f Your Highness may reasonably be surprised/ he 
said ; f and Herr Grafinski, although I am convinced 
he is clear of the intention of offending, would have 
perhaps done better to begin with an explanation. The 
resources of the State are at the present moment entirely 
swallowed up, or, as we hope to prove, wisely invested. 
In a month from now, I do not question we shall be 
able to meet any command your Highness may lay upon 
us ; but at this hour I fear that, even in so small a 
matter, he must prepare himself for disappointment. 
Our zeal is no less, although our power may be inade- 
quate/ 

* How much, Herr Grafinski, have we in the treas- 
ury ? 9 asked Otto. 

f Your Highness/ protested the treasurer, * we have 
immediate need of every crown/ 

f I think, sir, you evade me/ flashed the Prince ; and 
then turning to the side table, ‘ Mr. Secretary/ he added, 
f bring me, if you please, the treasury docket/ 

Herr Grafinski became deadly pale ; the chancellor, ex- 
pecting his own turn, was probably engaged in prayer ; 
Gondremark was watching like a ponderous cat. Gott- 
hold, on his part, looked on with wonder at his cousin ; 
he was certainly showing spirit, but what, in such a time 
of gravity, was all this talk of money ? and why should 
he waste his strength upon a personal issue ? 

‘ I find/ said Otto, with his finger on the docket, ‘ that 
we have 20,000 crowns in case/ 


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125 


‘That is exact, your Highness/ replied the Baron. 
‘ But our liabilities, all of which are happily not liquid, 
amount to a far larger sum ; and at the present point 
of time, it would be morally impossible to divert a single 
florin. Essentially, the case is empty. We have, already 
presented, a large note for material of war/ 

‘ Material of war ? 9 exclaimed Otto, with an excellent 
assumption of surprise. ‘ But if my memory serves me 
right, we settled these accounts in January/ 

‘ There have been further orders/ the Baron explained. 
‘ A new park of artillery has been completed ; five hun- 
dred stand of arms, seven hundred baggage mules — the 
details are in a special memorandum. Mr. Secretary 
Holtz, the memorandum, if you please/ 

‘ One would think, gentlemen, that we were going to 
war/ said Otto. 

‘ We are/ said Seraphina. 

‘War l 9 cried the Prince. ‘ And, gentlemen, with 
whom ? The peace of Grunewald has endured for cen- 
turies. What aggression, what insult, have we suffered ? 9 

‘Here, your Highness/ said Gotthold, ‘is the ulti- 
matum. It was in the very article of signature, when 
your Highness so opportunely entered/ 

Otto laid the paper before him ; as he read, his fingers 
played tattoo upon the table. ‘Was it proposed/ he in- 
quired, ‘to send this paper forth without a knowledge 
of my pleasure ?’ 

One of the non-combatants, eager to trim, volunteered 


126 


PRINCE OTTO 


an answer. ‘ The Herr Doctor yon Hohenstockwitz had 
just entered his dissent/ he added. 

‘Give me the rest of this correspondence/ said the 
Prince. It was handed to him, and he read it patiently 
from end to end, while the councillors sat foolishly enough 
looking before them on the table. The secretaries, in the 
background, were exchanging glances of delight ; a row 
at the council was for them a rare and welcome feature. 

‘ Gentlemen/ said Otto, when he had finished, ‘ I 
have read with pain. This claim upon Obermuu sterol 
is palpably unjust ; it has not a tincture, not a show, of 
justice. There is not in all this ground enough for 
after-dinner talk, and you propose to force it as a casus 
belli/ 

‘Certainly, your Highness/ returned Gondremark, 
too wise to defend the indefensible, ‘ the claim on 
Obermunsterol is simply a pretext/ 

‘ It is well/ said the Prince. ‘ Herr Cancellarius, 
take your pen. “ The council ,” 9 he began to dictate — 
‘ I withhold all notice of my intervention/ he said, in 
parenthesis and addressing himself more directly to his 
wife ; ‘ and I say nothing of the strange suppression by 
which this business has been smuggled past my knowl- 
edge. I am content to be in time — “ The council,” , 
he resumed, “‘on a further examination of the facts, 
and enlightened by the note in the last despatch from 
Gerolstein, have the pleasure to announce that they are 
entirely at one, both as to fact and sentiment, with the 


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127 


Grand Ducal Court of Gerolstein.'' You have it ? 
Upon these lines, sir, you will draw up the despatch/ 
f If your Highness will allow me/ said the Baron, 
‘‘your Highness is so imperfectly acquainted with the 
internal history of this correspondence, that any inter- 
ference will be merely hurtful. Such a paper as your 
Highness proposes, would be to stultify the whole pre- 
vious policy of Griinewald.' 

‘ The policy of Griinewald ! ' cried the Prince. ‘ One 
would suppose you had no sense of humour ! Would 
you fish in a coffee cup ? 9 

* With deference, your Highness/ returned the Baron, 
* even in a coffee cup there may be poison. The pur- 
pose of this war is not simply territorial enlargement ; 
still less is it a war of glory ; for, as your Highness 
indicates, the state of Griinewald is too small to be 
ambitious. But the body politic is seriously diseased ; 
republicanism, socialism, many disintegrating ideas are 
abroad ; circle within circle, a really formidable organi- 
sation has grown up about your Highness's throne/ 
f I have heard of it, Herr von Gondremark/ put in 
the Prince ; ‘ but I have reason to be aware that yours 
is the more authoritative information/ 

‘I am honoured by this expression of my Prince's 
confidence/ returned Gondremark, unabashed. ‘ It is, 
therefore, with a single eye to these disorders, that our 
present external policy has been shaped. Something 
was required to divert public attention, to employ the 


128 


PRINCE OTTO 


idle, to popularise your Highness's rule, and, if it were 
possible, to enable him to reduce the taxes at a blow and 
to a notable amount. The proposed expedition — for it 
cannot without hyperbole be called a war — seemed to the 
council to combine the various characters required ; a 
marked improvement in the public sentiment has fol- 
lowed even upon our preparations ; and I cannot doubt 
that when success shall follow, the effect will surpass 
even our boldest hopes.' 

f You are very adroit, Herr von Gondremark,' said 
Otto. ‘ You fill me with admiration. I had not here- 
tofore done justice to your qualities.' 

Seraphina looked up with joy, supposing Otto con- 
quered ; but Gondremark still waited, armed at every 
point ; he knew how very stubborn is the revolt of a 
weak character. 

* And the territorial army scheme, to which I was per. 
suaded to consent — was it secretly directed to the same 
end ? ' the Prince asked. 

f I still believe the effect to have been good,' replied 
the Baron ; f discipline and mounting guard are excel- 
lent sedatives. But I will avow to your Highness, I was 
unaware, at the date of that decree, of the magnitude 
of the revolutionary movement ; nor did any of us, I 
think, imagine that such a territorial army was a part of 
the republican proposals.' 

f It was ? ' asked Otto. ‘ Strange ! Upon what 
fancied grounds ?' 


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129 


‘ The grounds were indeed fanciful/ returned the 
Baron. ' It was conceived among the leaders that a ter- 
ritorial army, drawn from and returning to the people, 
would, in the event of any popular uprising, prove luke- 
warm or unfaithful to the throne/ 

' I see/ said the Prince. ' I begin to understand/ 

' His Highness begins to understand ? 9 repeated Gon- 
dremark, with the sweetest politeness. ' May I beg of 
him to complete the phrase ? 9 

'The history of the revolution/ replied Otto, drily. 
' And now/ he added, ' what do you conclude ? 9 

‘ I conclude, your Highness, with a simple reflection/ 
said the Baron, accepting the stab without a quiver, 
' the war is popular ; were the rumour contradicted to- 
morrow, a considerable disappointment would be felt in 
many classes ; and in the present tension of spirits, the 
most lukewarm sentiment may be enough to precipi- 
tate events. There lies the danger. The revolution 
hangs imminent ; we sit, at this council board, below 
the sword of Damocles/ 

"We must then lay our heads together/ said the 
Prince, 'and devise some honourable means of safety/ 
Up to this moment, since the first note of opposition 
fell from the librarian, Seraphina had uttered about 
twenty words. With a somewhat heightened colour, 
her eyes generally lowered, her foot sometimes ner- 
vously tapping on the floor, she had kept her own 

counsel and commanded her anger like a hero. But at 
9 


180 


PRINCE OTTO 


this stage of the engagement she lost control of her 
impatience. 

* Means ! J she cried. f They have been found and 
prepared before you knew the need for them. Sign the 
despatch, and let us be done with this delay/ 

* Madam, I said “ honourable ,” 9 returned Otto, bow- 
ing. f This war is, in my eyes, and by Herr yon G-on- 
dremark's account, an inadmissible expedient. If we 
have misgoverned here in Grunewald, are the people of 
Gerolstein to bleed and pay for our misdoings ? Never, 
madam ; not while I live. But I attach so much impor- 
tance to all that I have heard to-day for the first time — 
and why only to-day, I do not even stop to ask — that I 
am eager to find some plan that I can follow with credit 
to myself/ 

* And should you fail ? * she asked. 

f Should I fail, I will then meet the blow half way/ 
replied the Prince. f On the first open discontent, I shall 
convoke the States, and, when it pleases them to bid me, 
abdicate/ 

Seraphina laughed angrily. * This is the man for 
whom we have been labouring ! 9 she cried. f We tell 
him of change ; he will devise the means, he says ; and 
his device is abdication ? Sir, have you no shame to 
come here at the eleventh hour among those who have 
borne the heat and burthen of the day ? Do you not 
wonder at yourself ? I, sir, was here in my place, 
striving to uphold your dignity alone. I took counsel 


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181 


with the wisest I could find, while you were eating and 
hunting. I have laid my plans with foresight ; they 
were ripe for action ; and then — ■’ she choked — ‘ then you 
return — for a forenoon — to ruin all ! To-morrow, you 
will be once more about your pleasures ; you will give us 
leave once more to think and work for you ; and again 
you will come back, and again you will thwart what 
you had not the industry or knowledge to conceive. 
Oh ! it is intolerable. Be modest, sir. Do not presume 
upon the rank you cannot worthily uphold. I would 
not issue my commands with so much gusto — it is from 
no merit in yourself they are obeyed. What are you ? 
What have you to do in this grave council ? Go/ she 
cried, ‘ go among your equals ! The very people in the 
streets mock at you for a prince/ 

At this surprising outburst the whole council sat 
aghast. 

f Madam/ said the Baron, alarmed out of his caution, 
‘ command yourself/ 

‘ Address yourself to me, sir ! 9 cried the Prince. ‘ I 
will not bear these whisperings ! 9 

Seraphina burst into tears. 

‘ Sir/ cried the Baron, rising, ‘ this lady 9 

‘Herr von Gondremark/ said the Prince, ‘one more 
observation, and I place you under arrest/ 

‘ Your Highness is the master/ replied Gondremark, 
bowing. 

‘ Bear it in mind more constantly/ said Otto. ‘ Herr 


132 


PRINCE OTTO 


Cancellarius, bring all the papers to my cabinet. Gen- 
tlemen, the council is dissolved/ 

And he bowed and left the apartment, followed by 
Greisengesang and the secretaries, just at the moment 
when the Princess’s ladies, summoned in all haste, 
entered by another door to help her forth. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE PARTY OF WAR TAKES ACTIOH 

Half an hour after, Gondremark was once more 
closeted with Seraphina. 

f Where is he now ? 9 she asked, on his arrival. 
f Madam, he is with the Chancellor/ replied the 
Baron. f Wonder of wonders, he is at work !’ 

f Ah/ she said, * he was born to torture me ! Oh, 
what a fall, what a humiliation ! Such a scheme to 
wreck upon so small a trifle ! But now all is lost/ 
f Madam/ said Gondremark, ‘ nothing is lost. Some- 
thing, on the other hand, is found. You have found 
your senses ; you see him as he is — see him as you see 
everything where your too-good heart is not in ques- 
tion — with the judicial, with the statesman’s eye. So 
long as he had a right to interfere, the empire that may 
be was still distant. I have not entered on this course 
without the plain foresight of its dangers ; and even for 
this I was prepared. But, madam, I knew two things : 
I knew that you were born to command, that I was born 
to serve ; I knew that by a rare conjuncture, the hand 
had found the tool ; and from the first I was confident, 


184 


PRINCE OTTO 


as I am confident to-day, that no hereditary trifler has 
the power to shatter that alliance/ 

f I, born to command ! , she said. f Do you forget 
my tears ? 9 

‘ Madam, they were the tears of Alexander/ cried the 
Baron. * They touched, they thrilled me ; I forgot 
myself a moment — even I ! But do you suppose that 
I had not remarked, that I had not admired, your 
previous bearing ? your great self-command ? Ay, that 
was princely ! 9 He paused. f It was a thing to see. 
I drank confidence ! I tried to imitate your calm. And 
I was well inspired ; in my heart, I think that I was 
well inspired ; that any man, within the reach of argu- 
ment, had been convinced ! But it was not to be ; 
nor, madam, do I regret the failure. Let us he open ; 
let me disclose my heart. I have loved two things, not 
unworthily : Grunewald and my sovereign ! 9 Here he 
kissed her hand. ' Either I must resign my ministry, 
leave the land of my adoption and the queen whom I 
had chosen to obey — or 9 He paused again. 

f Alas, Herr von Gondremark, there is no “ or ," 9 
said Seraphina. 

‘Nay, madam, give me time/ he replied. ‘When 
first I saw you, you were still young ; not every man 
would have remarked your powers ; but I had not been 
twice honoured by your conversation ere I had found 
my mistress. I have, madam, I believe, some genius ; 
and I have much ambition. But the genius is of the 


A ROMANCE 


135 


serving kind ; and to offer a career to my ambition, I 
had to find one born to rule. This is the base and 
essence of our union ; each had need of the other ; 
each recognised, master and servant, lever and fulcrum, 
the complement of his endowment. Marriages, they 
say, are made in heaven : how much more these pure, 
laborious, intellectual fellowships, born to found em- 
pires ! Nor is this all. We found each other ripe, 
filled with great ideas that took shape and clarified 
with every word. We grew together — ay, madam, in 
mind we grew together like twin children. All of my 
life until we met was petty and groping ; was it not — I 
will flatter myself openly — it was the same with you ! 
Not till then had you those eagle surveys, that wide 
and hopeful sweep of intuition ! Thus we had formed 
ourselves, and we were ready/ 

f It is true/ she cried. f I feel it. Yours is the 
genius ; your generosity confounds your insight ; all I 
could offer you was the position, was this throne, to be 
a fulcrum. 'But I offered it without reserve ; I entered 
at least warmly into all your thoughts ; you were sure 
of me — sure of my support — certain of justice. Tell 
me, tell me again, that I have helped you/ 

Nay, madam/ he said, * you made me. In every- 
thing you were my inspiration. And as we prepared 
our policy, weighing every step, how often have I had 
to admire your perspicacity, your man-like diligence 
and fortitude ! You know that these are not the words 


136 


FRIIfCE OTTO 


of flattery ; your conscience echoes them ; have you 
spared a day ? have you indulged yourself in any pleas- 
ure ? Young and beautiful, you have lived a life of 
high intellectual effort, of irksome intellectual patience 
with details. Well, you have your reward : with the 
fall of Brandenau, the throne of your Empire is founded . 9 

‘ What thought have you in your mind ? 5 she asked. 
‘ Is not all ruined ? 9 

‘ Nay, my Princess, the same thought is in both our 
minds/ he said. 

‘Herr von Gondremark/ she replied, ‘by all that 
I hold sacred, I have none ; I do not think at all ; I 
am crushed/ 

‘You are looking at the passionate side of a rich 
nature, misunderstood and recently insulted/ said the 
Baron. ‘ Look into your intellect, and tell me/ 

‘ I find nothing, nothing but tumult/ she replied. 

‘ You find one word branded, madam/ returned the 
Baron : ‘ “ Abdication l” } 

‘ 0 ! 9 she cried. ‘ The coward ! He leaves me to 
bear all, and in the hour of trial he stabs me from 
behind. There is nothing in him, not respect, not 
love, not courage — his wife, his dignity, his throne, 
the honour of his father, he forgets them all ! 9 

‘Yes/ pursued the Baron, ‘the word Abdication. 
I perceive a glimmering there/ 

‘ I read your fancy/ she returned. ‘ It is mere mad- 
ness, midsummer madness. Baron, I am more unpopu- 


A ROMANCE 


137 


lar than he. You know it. They can excuse, they can 
love, his weakness ; but me, they hate/ 

‘ Such is the gratitude of peoples/ said the Baron. 
‘ But we trifle. Here, madam, are my plain thoughts. 
The man who in the hour of danger speaks of abdica- 
tion is, for me, a venomous animal. I speak with 
the bluntness of gravity, madam ; this is no hour for 
mincing. The coward, in a station of authority, is 
more dangerous than fire. We dwell on a volcano ; if 
this man can have his way, Griinewald before a week 
will have been deluged with innocent blood. You 
know the truth of what I say ; we have looked unblench- 
ing into this ever-possible catastrophe. To him it is 
nothing : he will abdicate ! Abdicate, just God ! and 
this unhappy country committed to his charge, and the 
lives of men and the honour of women . . / His voice 
appeared to fail him ; in an instant he had conquered 
his emotion and resumed : * But you, madam, conceive 
more worthily of your responsibilities. I am with you 
in the thought ; and in the face of the horrors that 
I see impending, I say, and your heart repeats it — we 
have gone too far to pause. Honour, duty, ay, and 
the care of our own lives, demand we should proceed/ 

She was looking at him, her brow thoughtfully 
knitted. ‘ I feel it/ she said. ‘ But how ? He has 
the power/ 

‘ The power, madam ? The power is in the army/ 
he replied ; and then hastily, ere she could intervene, 


138 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ we have to save ourselves/ he went on ; ‘ I have to 
save my Princess, she has to save her minister ; we have 
both of us to save this infatuated youth from his own 
madness. He in the outbreak would be the earliest 
victim ; I see him/ he cried, ‘ torn in pieces ; and 
Grunewald, unhappy Grunewald ! Hay, madam, you 
who have the power must use it ; it lies hard upon your 
conscience/ 

‘ Show me how ! 9 she cried. * Suppose I were to 
place him under some constraint, the revolution would 
break upon us instantly/ 

The Baron feigned defeat. ‘ It is true/ he said. 
‘ You see more clearly than I do. Yet there should, 
there must be, some way/ And he waited for his 
chance. 

‘Ho/ she said ; ‘ I told you from the first there is no 
remedy. Our hopes are lost : lost by one miserable tri- 
fler, ignorant, fretful, fitful — who will have disappeared 
to-morrow, who knows ? to his boorish pleasures ! 9 

Any peg would do for Gondremark. e The thing ! 9 
he cried, striking his brow. ‘ Fool, not to have thought 
of it ! Madam, without perhaps knowing it, you have 
solved our problem/ 

f What do you mean ? Speak ! 9 she said. 

He appeared to collect himself ; and then, with a 
smile, ‘ The Prince/ he said, ‘ must go once more 
a-hunting/ 

‘ Ay, if he would ! * cried she, ‘ and stay there ! 5 


A ROMANCE 


139 


' And stay there/ echoed the Baron. It was so sig- 
nificantly said, that her face changed ; and the schemer, 
fearful of the sinister ambiguity of his expressions, 
hastened to explain. ' This time he shall go hunting 
in a carriage, with a good escort of our foreign lancers. 
His destination shall he the Felsenburg ; it is healthy, 
the rock is high, the windows are small and barred ; it 
might have been built on purpose. We shall entrust 
the captaincy to the Scotchman Gordon ; he at least 
will have no scruple. Who will miss the sovereign ? 
He is gone hunting ; he came home on Tuesday, on 
Thursday he returned ; all is usual in that. Meanwhile 
the war proceeds ; our Prince will soon weary of his 
solitude ; and about the time of our triumph, or, if he 
prove very obstinate, a little later, he shall be released 
upon a proper understanding, and I see him once more 
directing his theatricals/ 

Seraphina sat gloomy, plunged in thought. 'Yes/ 
she said suddenly, ' and the despatch ? He is now 
writing it/ 

'It cannot pass the council before Friday/ replied 
Gondremark ; ' and as for any private note, the mes- 
sengers are all at my disposal. They are picked men, 
madam. I am a person of precaution/ 

' It would appear so/ she said, with a flash of her 
occasional repugnance to the man ; and then after a 
pause, 'Herr von Gondremark/ she added, 'I recoil 
from this extremity/ 


140 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ I share your Highness's repugnance/ answered 
he. ‘ But what would you have ? We are defenceless, 
else.' 

‘ I see it, but this is sudden. It is a public crime,' 
she said, nodding at him with a sort of horror. 

‘Look but a little deeper,' he returned, ‘and whose 
is the crime ? ' 

‘ His ! ' she cried. ‘ His, before God ! And I hold 
him liable. But still ' 

‘It is not as if he would be harmed,' submitted 
Gondremark. 

‘I know it,' she replied, but it was still unheartily. 

And then, as brave men are entitled, by prescriptive 
right as old as the world's history, to the alliance and 
the active help of Fortune, the punctual goddess 
stepped down from the machine. One of the Princess's 
ladies begged to enter ; a man, it appeared, had brought 
a line for the Freiherr von Gondremark. It proved to 
be a pencil billet, which the crafty Greisengesang had 
found the means to scribble and despatch under the 
very guns of Otto ; and the daring of the act bore testi- 
mony to the terror of the actor. For Greisengesang 
had but one influential motive : fear. The note ran 
thus : 

* At the first council, procuration to be withdrawn. 

‘Corn. Greis.’ 

So, after three years of exercise, the right of signa- 
ture was to be stript from Seraphina. It was more 


A KOMAISTCE 


141 


than an insult ; it was a public disgrace ; and she did 
not pause to consider how she had earned it, but mor- 
ally bounded under the attack as bounds the wounded 
tiger. 

f Enough/ she said ; ‘ I will sign the order. When 
shall he leave ? 9 

f It will take me twelve hours to collect my men, and 
it had best be done at night. To-morrow midnight, if 
you please ? , answered the Baron. 

* Excellent/ she said. e My door is always open to 
you, Baron. As soon as the order is prepared, bring it 
to me to sign/ 

‘ Madam/ he said, ‘ alone of all of us you do not risk 
your head in this adventure. Eor that reason, and to 
prevent all hesitation, I venture to propose the order 
should be in your hand throughout/ 

‘ You are right/ she replied. 

He laid a form before her, and she wrote the order in 
a clear hand, and re-read it. Suddenly a cruel smile 
came on her face. ‘ I had forgotten his puppet/ said 
she. ‘ They will keep each other company/ And she 
interlined and initialed the condemnation of Doctor 
Gotthold. 

‘Your Highness has more memory than your ser- 
vant/ said the Baron ; and then he, in his turn, care- 
fully perused the fateful paper. ‘ Good ! 9 said he. 

‘ You will appear in the drawing-room, Baron ? , she 
asked. 


142 


PRINCE OTTO 


f I thought it better/ said he, * to avoid the possibility 
of a public affront. Anything that shook my credit 
might hamper us in the immediate future/ 

f You are right/ she said ; and she held out her hand 
as to an old friend and equal. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE PRICE OF THE RIYER FARM ; IN WHICH VAIN- 
GLORY GOES BEFORE A FALL 

The pistol had been practically fired. Under ordi- 
nary circumstances the scene at the council table would 
have entirely exhausted Otto’s store both of energy 
and anger ; he would have begun to examine and con- 
demn his conduct, have remembered all that was true, 
forgotten all that was unjust in Seraphina’s onslaught ; 
and by half an hour after, would have fallen into that 
state of mind in which a Catholic flees to the confes- 
sional and a sot takes refuge with the bottle. Two mat- 
ters of detail preserved his spirits. Eor, first, he had 
still an infinity of business to transact ; and to trans- 
act business, for a man of Otto’s neglectful and pro- 
crastinating habits, is the best anodyne for conscience. 
All afternoon he was hard at it with the Chancellor, 
reading, dictating, signing, and despatching papers ; 
and this kept him in a glow of self- approval. But, 
secondly, his vanity was still alarmed ; he had failed 
to get the money; to-morrow before noon he would 
have to disappoint old Killian ; and in the eyes of 
that family which counted him so little, and to which 


144 


PRINCE OTTO 


he had sought to play the part of the heroic comforter, 
he must sink lower than at first. To a man of Otto’s 
temper, this was death. He could not accept the situa- 
tion. And even as he worked, and worked wisely and 
well, over the hated details of his principality, he was 
secretly maturing a plan by which to turn the situation. 
It was a scheme as pleasing to the man as it was 
dishonourable in the prince ; in w T hich his frivolous 
nature found and took vengeance for the gravity and 
burthen of the afternoon. He chuckled as he thought 
of it : and G-reisengesang heard him with wonder, and 
attributed his lively spirits to the skirmish of the 
morning. 

Led by this idea, the antique courtier ventured to 
compliment his sovereign on his bearing. It reminded 
him, he said, of Otto’s father. 

‘ What ? ’ asked the Prince, whose thoughts were 
miles away. 

* Your Highness’s authority at the board,’ explained 
the flatterer. 

f 0, that ! 0 yes,’ returned Otto ; but for all his 

carelessness, his vanity was delicately tickled, and his 
mind returned and dwelt approvingly over the details 
of his victory. e I quelled them all,’ he thought. 

When the more pressing matters had been dismissed, 
it was already late, and Otto kept the Chancellor to 
dinner, and was entertained with a leash of ancient 
histories and modern compliments. The Chancellor’s 


A ROMANCE 


145 


career had been based, from the first off-put, on entire 
subserviency ; he had crawled into honours and employ- 
ments ; and his mind was prostitute. The instinct of 
the creature served him well wdth Otto. First, he let 
fall a sneering word or two upon the female intellect ; 
thence he proceeded to a closer engagement ; and before 
the third course he was artfully dissecting Seraphina’s 
character to her approving husband. Of course no 
names were used ; and of course the identity of that 
abstract or ideal man, with whom she was currently 
contrasted, remained an open secret. But this stiff old 
gentleman had a wonderful instinct for evil, thus to 
wind his way into man’s citadel ; thus to harp by the 
hour on the virtues of his hearer and not once alarm 
his self-respect. Otto was all roseate, in and out, with 
flattery and Tokay and an approving conscience. He 
saw himself in the most attractive colours. If even 
Greisengesang, he thought, could thus espy the loose 
stitches in Seraphina’s character, and thus disloyally 
impart them to the opposite camp, he, the discarded 
husband — the dispossessed Prince — could scarce have 
erred on the side of severity. 

In this excellent frame he bade adieu to the old 
gentleman, whose voice had proved so musical, and 
set forth for the drawing-room. Already on the stair, 
he was seized with some compunction ; but when he 
entered the great gallery and beheld his wife, the Chan- 
cellor’s abstract flatteries fell from him like rain, and 
10 


146 


PRINCE OTTO 


he re-awoke to the poetic facts of life. She stood a 
good way off below a shining lustre, her back turned. 
The bend of her waist overcame him with a physical 
weakness. This was the girl-wife who had lain in his 
arms and whom he had sworn to cherish ; there was 
she, who was better than success. 

It was Seraphina who restored him from the blow. 
She swam forward and smiled upon her husband with 
a sweetness that was insultingly artificial. ‘ Frederic/ 
she lisped, ‘you are late/ It was a scene of high 
comedy, such as is proper to unhappy marriages; and 
her aplomb disgusted him. 

There was no etiquette at these small drawing-rooms. 
People came and went at pleasure. The window em- 
brasures became the roost of happy couples ; at the 
great chimney, the talkers mostly congregated, each 
full-charged with scandal ; and down at the farther end 
the gamblers gambled. It was towards this point 
that Otto moved, not ostentatiously, but with a gentle 
insistance, and scattering attentions as he went. Once 
abreast of the card-table, he placed himself opposite 
to Madame von Eosen, and, as soon as he had caught 
her eye, withdrew to the embrasure of a window. There 
she had speedily joined him. 

‘ You did well to call me/ she said, a little wildly. 
‘ These cards will be my ruin/ 

‘ Leave them/ said Otto. 

‘ I !' she cried, and laughed ; ‘ they are my destiny. 


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My only chance was to die of a consumption ; now I 
must die in a garret/ 

tf You are bitter to-night/ said Otto. 

* I have been losing/ she replied. ‘ You do not know 
what greed is/ 

‘ I have come, then, in an evil hour/ said he. 

Ah, you wish a favour ! 9 she cried, brightening 
beautifully. 

‘ Madam/ said he, f I am about to found my party, 
and I come to you for a recruit/ 

f Done/ said the Countess. ‘ I am a man again/ 

‘ I may be wrong/ continued Otto, f but I believe 
upon my heart you wish me no ill/ 

‘ I wish you so well/ she said, * that I dare not tell 
it you/ 

‘ Then if I ask my favour ? 9 quoth the Prince. 

‘ Ask it, mon Prince / she answered. f Whatever it is, 
it is granted/ 

* I wish you/ he returned, ' this very night to make 
the farmer of our talk/ 

* Heaven knows your meaning ! 9 she exclaimed. ‘ I 
know not, neither care ; there are no bounds to my 
desire to please you. Call him made/ 

* I will put it in another way/ returned Otto. ‘ Did 
you ever steal ?’ 

‘ Often ! 9 cried the Countess. ‘ I have broken all the 
ten commandments ; and if there were more to-morrow 
I should not sleep till I had broken these/ 


148 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ This is a case of burglary : to say truth, I thought it 
would amuse you/ said the Prince. 

‘ I have no practical experience/ she replied, ‘ but 0 ! 
the good-will ! I have broken a work-box in my time, 
and several hearts, my own included. Never a house ! 
But it cannot be difficult ; sins are so unroinantically 
easy ! What are we to break ? 9 

‘ Madam, we are to break the treasury/ said Otto ; 
and he sketched to her briefly, wittily, with here and 
there a touch of pathos, the story of his visit to the farm, 
of his promise to buy it, and of the refusal with which 
his demand for money had been met that morning at 
the council; concluding with a few practical words as 
to the treasury windows, and the helps and hindrances 
of the proposed exploit. 

‘ They refused you the money/ she said, when he had 
done. f And you accepted the refusal ? Well ! 9 

‘ They gave their reasons/ replied Otto, colouring. 
* They were not such as I could combat ; and I am 
driven to dilapidate the funds of my own country by a 
theft. It is not dignified ; but it is fun/ 

f Fun/ she said; ‘yes/ And then she remained 
silently plunged in thought for an appreciable time. 
‘ How much do you require ? 9 she asked at length. 

‘ Three thousand crowns will do/ he answered, ‘ for 
I have still some money of my own/ 

‘ Excellent/ she said, regaining her levity. ‘ I am 
your true accomplice. And where are we to meet ? J 


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‘ You know the Flying Mercury/ he answered, ‘ in 
the Park ? Three pathways intersect ; there they have 
made a seat and raised the statue. The spot is handy, 
and the deity congenial/ 

* Child/ she said, and tapped him with her fan. 
f But do you know, my Prince, you are an egoist — your 
handy trysting-place is miles from me. You must give 
me ample time ; I cannot, I think, possibly be there 
before two. But as the bell beats two, your helper shall 
arrive : welcome, I trust. Stay — do you bring any 
one ? 9 she added. ‘ 0, it is not for a chaperone — I am 
not a prude ! 9 

‘ I shall bring a groom of mine/ said Otto. ' I 
caught him stealing corn/ 

* His name ? 9 she asked. 

f I profess I know not. I am not yet intimate with 
my corn-stealer/ returned the Prince. f It was in a 
professional capacity 9 

‘ Like me ! Flatterer ! 9 she cried. f But oblige me 
in one thing. Let me find you waiting at the seat — yes, 
you shall await me ; for on this expedition it shall be no 
longer Prince and Countess, it shall be the lady and the 
squire — and your friend the thief shall be no nearer 
than the fountain. Do you promise ? 9 

‘ Madam, in everything you are to command ; you 
shall be captain, I am but supercargo/ answered Otto. 

‘ Well, Heaven bring all safe to port ! 9 she said. ‘ It 
is not Friday ! 9 


150 


PRINCE OTTO 


Something in her manner had puzzled Otto, had 
possibly touched him with suspicion. 

‘ Is it not strange/ he remarked, * that I should 
choose my accomplice from the other camp ? 9 

‘ Fool ! 9 she said. f But it is your only wisdom that 
you know your friends/ And suddenly, in the vantage 
of the deep window, she caught up his hand and kissed 
it with a sort of passion. Now, go/ she added, * go at 
once/ 

He went, somewhat staggered, doubting in his heart 
that he was overbold. For in that moment she had 
flashed upon him like a jewel; and even through the 
strong panoply of a previous love he had been conscious 
of a shock. Next moment he had dismissed the fear. 

Both Otto and the Countess retired early from the 
drawing-room ; and the Prince, after an elaborate feint, 
dismissed his valet and went forth by the private passage 
and the back postern in quest of the groom. 

Once more the stable was in darkness, once more Otto 
employed the talismanic knock, and once more the 
groom appeared and sickened with terror. 

‘ Good evening, friend/ said Otto, pleasantly. ‘ I want 
you to bring a corn sack — empty this time— and to 
accompany me. We shall be gone all night/ 

‘ Your Highness/ groaned the man, f I have the 
charge of the small stables. X am here alone/ 

* Come/ said the Prince, ‘ you are no such martinet in 
duty/ And then seeing that the man was shaking from 


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head to foot, Otto laid a hand upon his shoulder. * If I 
meant you harm/ he said, f should I be here ? 5 

The fellow became instantly reassured. He got the 
sack ; and Otto led him round by several paths and ave- 
nues, conversing pleasantly by the way, and left him at 
last planted by a certain fountain where a goggle-eyed 
Triton spouted intermittently into a rippling laver. 
Thence he proceeded alone to where, in a round clear- 
ing, a copy of Gian Bologna’s Mercury stood tiptoe in 
the twilight of the stars. The night was warm and 
windless. A shaving of new moon had lately arisen ; but 
it was still too small and too low down in heaven to con- 
tend with the immense host of lesser luminaries ; and 
the rough face of the earth was drenched with starlight. 
Down one of the alleys, which widened as it receded, he 
could see a part of the lamplit terrace where a sentry 
silently paced, and beyond that a corner of the town 
with interlacing street-lights. But all around him the 
young trees stood mystically blurred in the dim shine ; 
and in the stock-still quietness the upleaping god ap- 
peared alive. 

In this dimness and silence of the night, Otto’s con- 
science became suddenly and staringly luminous like the 
dial of a city clock. He averted the eyes of his mind, 
but the finger, rapidly travelling, pointed to a series of 
misdeeds that took his breath away. What was he doing 
in that place ? The money had been wrongly squan- 
dered, but that was largely by his own neglect. And he 


152 


FIIINCE OTTO 


now proposed to embarrass the finances of this country 
which he had been too idle to govern. And he now pro- 
posed to squander the money once again, and this time 
for a private, if a generous end. And the man whom he 
had reproved for stealing corn, he was now to set steal- 
ing treasure. And then there was Madame von Rosen, 
upon whom he looked down with some of that ill- 
favoured contempt of the chaste male for the imperfect 
woman. Because he thought of her as one degraded 
below scruples, he had picked her out to be still more 
degraded, and to risk her whole irregular establishment 
in life by complicity in this dishonourable act. It was 
uglier than a seduction. 

Otto had to walk very briskly and whistle very busily ; 
and when at last he heard steps in the narrowest and 
darkest of the alleys, it was with a gush of relief that he 
sprang to meet the Countess. To wrestle alone with 
one’s good angel is so hard ! and so precious, at the 
proper time, is a companion certain to be less virtuous 
than oneself ! 

It was a young man who came towards him — a young 
man of small stature and a peculiar gait, wearing a wide 
flapping hat, and carrying, with great weariness, a heavy 
bag. Otto recoiled ; but the young man held up his 
hand by way of signal, and coming up with a panting 
run, as if with the last of his endurance, laid the bag 
upon the ground, threw himself upon the bench, and 
disclosed the features of Madame von Rosen. 


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153 


f You, Countess ! ’ cried the Prince. 

‘ No, no/ she panted, * the Count von Rosen — my 
young brother. A capital fellow. Let him get his 
breath/ 

' Ah, madam . . / said he. 

* Call me Count/ she returned, * respect my incog- 
nito/ 

' Count be it, then/ he replied. ' And let me implore 
that gallant gentleman to set forth at once on our 
enterprise/ 

' Sit down beside me here/ she returned, patting the 
further corner of the bench. ' I will follow you in a 
moment. 0, I am so tired — feel how my heart leaps ! 
Where is your thief ?’ 

‘ At his post/ replied Otto. ' Shall I introduce him ? 
He seems an excellent companion/ 

' No/ she said, e do not hurry me yet. I must speak 
to you. Not but I adore your thief ; I adore any one 
who has the spirit to do wrong. I never cared for 
virtue till I fell in love with my Prince/ She laughed 
musically. 'And even so, it is not for your virtues/ 
she added. 

Otto was embarrassed. * And now/ he asked, ‘ if you 
are anyway rested ? 9 

‘ Presently, presently. Let me breathe/ she said, 
panting a little harder than before. 

' And what has so wearied you ? 9 he asked. ‘ This 
bag ? And why, in the name of eccentricity, a bag ? 


154 ' 


PRINCE OTTO 


For an empty one, yon might have relied on my own 
foresight ; and this one is very far from being empty. 
My dear Count, with what trash have you come laden ? 
But the shortest method is to see for myself/ And he 
put down his hand. 

She stopped him at once. ' Otto/ she said, ' no — not 
that way. I will tell, I will make a clean breast. It 
is done already. I have robbed the treasury single- 
handed. There are three thousand two hundred 
crowns. 0, I trust it is enough ! 9 

Her embarrassment was so obvious that the Prince 
was struck into a muse, gazing in her face, with his 
hand still outstretched, and she still holding him by the 
wrist. ‘ You ! 9 he said, at last. ' How ? 9 And then 
drawing himself up, ' 0 madam/ he cried, ' I under- 
stand. You must indeed think meanly of the Prince/ 

'Well then, it was a lie!* she cried. 'The money 
is mine, honestly my own — now yours. This was an 
unworthy act that you proposed. But I love your 
honour, and I swore to myself that I should save it 
in your teeth. I beg of you to let me save it * — with 
a sudden lovely change of tone. ' Otto, I beseech you 
let me save it. Take this dross from your poor friend 
who loves you ! * 

' Madam, madam/ babbled Otto, in the extreme of 
misery, 'I cannot — I must go/ 

And he half rose ; but she was on the ground before 
him in an instant, clasping his knees. 'No/ she 


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155 


gasped, ‘you shall not go. Do you despise me so en- 
tirely ? It is dross ; I hate it ; I should squander it at 
play and he no richer ; it is an investment ; it is to save 
me from ruin. Otto/ she cried, as he again feebly tried 
to put her from him, ‘ if you leave me alone in this dis- 
grace, I will die here ! 9 He groaned aloud. ‘ 0/ she 
said, ‘ think what I suffer ! If you suffer from a piece 
of delicacy, think what I suffer in my shame ! To have 
my trash refused ! You would rather steal, you think 
of me so basely ! You would rather tread my heart in 
pieces ! 0, unkind ! 0 my Prince ! 0 Otto ! 0 pity 

me ! 9 She was still clasping him ; then she found his 
hand and covered it with kisses, and at this his head 
began to turn. ‘ 0/ she cried again, * I see it ! 0 what 
a horror ! It is because I am old, because I am no 
longer beautiful/ And she burst into a storm of sobs. 

This was the coup de grdce. Otto had now to com- 
fort and compose her as he could, and before many 
words, the money was accepted. Between the woman 
and the weak man such was the inevitable end. Ma- 
dame von Rosen instantly composed her sobs. She 
thanked him with a fluttering voice, and resumed her 
place upon the bench at the far end from Otto. ‘ Now 
you see/ she said, ‘why I bade you keep the thief at 
distance, and why I came alone. How I trembled for 
my treasure ! 9 

‘ Madam/ said Otto, with a tearful whimper in his 
voice, ‘ spare me ! You are too good, too noble ! 9 


156 


PRINCE OTTO 


* I wonder to hear* you/ she returned. ‘ You have 
avoided a great folly. You will be able to meet your 
good old peasant. You have found an excellent invest- 
ment for a friend’s money. You have preferred essen- 
tial kindness to an empty scruple ; and now you are 
ashamed of it ! You have made your friend happy ; 
and now you mourn as the dove ! Come, cheer up. I 
know it is depressing to have done exactly right ; but 
you need not make a practice of it. Forgive your- 
self this virtue ; come now, look me in the face and 
smile ! ’ 

He did look at her. When a man has been embraced 
by a woman, he sees her in a glamour ; and at such a 
time, in the baffling glimmer of the stars, she will look 
wildly well. The hair is touched with light ; the eyes 
are constellations ; the face sketched in shadows — a 
sketch, you might say, by passion. Otto became con- 
soled for his defeat ; he began to take an interest. 
‘ No/ he said, f I am no ingrate . 9 

‘ You promised me fun/ she returned, with a laugh. 
‘ I have given you as good. We have had a stormy 
scena.’ 

He laughed in his turn, and the sound of the laughter, 
in either case, was hardly reassuring. 

* Come, what are you going to give me in exchange/ 
she continued, * for my excellent declamation ? 9 

‘ What you will/ he said. 

* Whatever I will ? Upon your honour ? Suppose 


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157 


I asked the crown ? * She was flashing upon him, beau- 
tiful in triumph. 

f Upon my honour/ he replied. 

‘ Shall I ask the crown ? 9 she continued. f Kay ; 
what should I do with it ? Grunewald is but a petty 
state ; my ambition swells above it. I shall ask — I find 
I want nothing/ she concluded. * I will give you 
something instead. I will give you leave to kiss me — 
once/ 

Otto drew near and she put up her face ; they were 
both smiling, both on the brink of laughter, all was so 
innocent and playful ; and the Prince, when their lips 
encountered, was dumbfounded by the sudden convul- 
sion of his being. Both drew instantly apart, and for an 
appreciable time sat tongue-tied. Otto was indistinctly 
conscious of a peril in the silence, but could find no 
words to utter. Suddenly the Countess seemed to 

awake. f As for your wife ? she began in a clear 

and steady voice. 

The word recalled Otto, with a shudder, from his 
trance. ‘ I will hear nothing against my wife/ he 
cried wildly ; and then, recovering himself and in a 
kindlier tone, <r I will tell you my one secret/ he added. 
‘ I love my wife/ 

‘ You should have let me finish/ she returned, smiling. 
' Do you suppose I did not mention her on purpose ? 
You know you had lost your head. Well, so had I. 
Come now, do not be abashed by words/ she added. 


158 


PRINCE OTTO 


somewhat sharply. f It is the one thing I despise. If 
you are not a fool, you will see that I am building for- 
tresses about your virtue. And at any rate, I choose 
that you shall understand that I am not dying of 
love for you. It is a very smiling business ; no tragedy 
for me ! And now here is what I have to say about 
your wife : She is not and she never has been Gondre- 
mark’s mistress. Be sure he would have boasted if she 
had. Good-night ! 9 

And in a moment she was gone down the alley, and 
Otto was alone with the bag of money and the flying 
god. 


CHAPTER X 

Gotthold’s revised opinion ; and the fall 

COMPLETED 

The Countess left poor Otto with a caress and buffet 
simultaneously administered. The welcome word about 
his wife and the virtuous ending of his interview should 
doubtless have delighted him. But for all that, as he 
shouldered the bag of money and set forward to rejoin 
his groom, he was conscious of many aching sensibilities. 
To have gone wrong and to have been set right, makes 
but a double trial for man’s vanity. The discovery of 
his own weakness and possible unfaith had staggered him 
to the heart ; and to hear, in the same hour, of his 
wife’s fidelity from one who loved her not, increased 
the bitterness of the surprise. 

He was about halfway between the fountain and the 
Flying Mercury before his thoughts began to be clear ; 
and he was surprised to find them resentful. He 
paused in a kind of temper, and struck with his hand 
a little shrub. Thence there arose instantly a cloud of 
awakened sparrows, which as instantly dispersed and 
disappeared into the thicket. He looked at them 
stupidly, and when they were gone continued staring 


160 


PR.IN’CE OTTO 


at the stars. f I am angry. By what right ? By 
none ! 9 he thought ; but he was still angry. He cursed 
Madame von Rosen and instantly repented. Heavy 
was the money on his shoulders. 

When he reached the fountain, he did, out of ill- 
humour and parade, an unpardonable act. He gave 
the money bodily to the dishonest groom. f Keep 
this for me,’ he said, f until I call for it to-morrow. 
It is a great sum, and by that you will judge that I 
have not condemned you.’ And he strode away ruf- 
fling, as if he had done something generous. It was a 
desperate stroke to re-enter at the point of the bayonet 
into his self-esteem ; and, like all such, it was fruitless 
in the end. He got to bed with the devil, it appeared : 
kicked and tumbled till the gray of the morning ; and 
then fell inopportunely into a leaden slumber, and 
awoke to find it ten. To miss the appointment with 
old Killian after all, had been too tragic a miscarriage : 
and he hurried with all his might, found the groom (for 
a wonder) faithful to his trust, and arrived only a few 
minutes before noon in the guest-chamber of the Morn- 
ing Star. Killian was there in his Sunday’s best and 
looking very gaunt and rigid ; a lawyer from Brandenau 
stood sentinel over his outspread papers ; and the groom 
and the landlord of the inn were called to serve as wit- 
nesses. The obvious deference of that great man, the 
innkeeper, plainly affected the old farmer with surprise ; 
but it was not until Otto had taken the pen and signed 


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161 


that the truth flashed upon him fully. Then, indeed, 
he was beside himself. 

f His Highness ! * he cried, ‘ His Highness ! 9 and 
repeated the exclamation till his mind had grappled 
fairly with the facts. Then he turned to the witnesses. 
4 Gentlemen/ he said, ‘ you dwell in a country highly 
favoured by God ; for of all generous gentlemen, I will 
say it on my conscience, this one is the king. I am 
an old man, and I have seen good and bad, and the 
year of the great famine ; but a more excellent gentle- 
man, no, never.* 

‘We know that/ cried the landlord, ‘we know that 
well in Grime wald. If we saw more of his Highness 
we should be the better pleased.* 

‘ It is the kindest Prince/ began the groom, and 
suddenly closed his mouth upon a sob, so that every 
one turned to gaze upon his emotion. Otto not last ; 
Otto struck with remorse, to see the man so grateful. 

Then it was the lawyer’s turn to pay a compliment. 
‘I do not know what Providence may hold in store/ 
he said, ‘but this day should be a bright one in the 
annals of your reign. The shouts of armies could not 
be more eloquent than the emotion of these honest 
faces.* And the Brandenau lawyer bowed, skipped, 
stepped back and took snuff, with the air of a man 
who has found and seized an opportunity. 

‘Well, young gentleman/ said Killian, ‘if you will 

pardon me the plainness of calling you a gentleman, 
11 


162 


PRINCE OTTO 


many a good day^s work yon have done, I doubt not, 
but never a better, or one that will be better blessed ; 
and whatever, sir, may be your happiness and triumph 
in that high sphere to which you have been called, it 
will be none the worse, sir, for an old man’s blessing ! 9 

The scene had almost assumed the proportions of 
an ovation ; and when the Prince escaped he had but 
one thought : to go wherever he was most sure of praise. 
His conduct at the board of council occurred to him 
as a fair chapter ; and this evoked the memory of 
Gotthold. To Gotthold he would go. 

Gotthold was in the library as usual, and laid down 
his pen, a little angrily, on Otfo/s entrance. 'Well/ 
he said, 'here you are/ 

'Well/ returned Otto, 'we made a revolution, I 
believe/ 

' It is what I fear/ returned the Doctor. 

' How ? 9 said Otto. ' Fear ? Fear is the burnt child. 
I have learned my strength and the weakness of the 
others ; and I now mean to govern/ 

Gotthold said nothing, but he looked down and 
smoothed his chin. 

' You disapprove ? 9 cried Otto. ' You are a weather- 
cock/ 

‘ On the contrary/ replied the Doctor. ' My observa- 
tion has confirmed my fears. It will not do, Otto, not do/ 

' What will not do ? 9 demanded the Prince, with a 
sickening stab of pain. 


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163 


‘ None of it/ answered Gotthold. f Yon are unfitted 
for a life of action; you lack the stamina, the habit, 
the restraint, the patience. Your wife is greatly better, 
vastly better ; and though she is in bad hands, displays 
a very different aptitude. She is a woman of affairs ; 
you are — dear boy, you are yourself. I hid you hack 
to your amusements ; like a smiling dominie, I give you 
holidays for life. Yes/ he continued, ‘ there is a day 
appointed for all when they shall turn again upon their 
own philosophy. I had grown to disbelieve impartially 
in all ; and if in the atlas of the sciences there were two 
charts I disbelieved in more than all the rest, they were 
politics and morals. I had a sneaking kindness for 
your vices ; as they were negative, they flattered my phi- 
losophy, and I called them almost virtues. Well, Otto, 
I was wrong ; I have forsworn my sceptical philoso- 
phy ; and I perceive your faults to be unpardonable. 
You are unfit to be a Prince, unfit to be a husband. 
And I give you my word, I would rather see a man 
capably doing evil than blundering about good/ 

Otto was still silent, in extreme dudgeon. 

Presently the Doctor resumed: ‘1 will take the smaller 
matter first : your conduct to your wife. You went, I 
hear, and had an explanation. That may have been 
right or wrong ; I know not ; at least, you had stirred 
her temper. At the council she insults you ; well, you 
insult her back — a man to a woman, a husband to his 
wife, in public ! Next upon the back of this, you pro- 


164 


PRINCE OTTO 


pose — the story runs like wildfire — to recall the power 
of signature. Can she ever forgive that ? a woman — a 
young woman — ambitious, conscious of talents beyond 
yours ? Never, Otto. And to sum all, at such a crisis 
in your married life, you get into a window corner with 
that ogling dame von Rosen. I do not dream that there 
was any harm ; but I do say it was an idle disrespect to 
your wife. Why, man, the woman is. not decent/ 

‘ Gotthold/ said Otto, ‘ I will hear no evil of the 
Countess/ 

‘You will certainly hear no good of her/ returned 
Gotthold ; ‘ and if you wish your wife to be the pink of 
nicety, you should clear your court of demi-reputations/ 
‘ The commonplace injustice of a by- word/ Otto cried. 
‘ The partiality of sex. She is a demi-rep ; what then is 

Gondremark ? Were she a man * 

‘ It would be all one/ retorted Gotthold, roughly. 
‘ When I see a man, come to years of wisdom, who 
speaks in double meanings and is the braggart of his 
vices, I spit on the other side. “ You, my friend,” say I, 
“are not even a gentleman.” Well, she^s not even a lady/ 
‘ She is the best friend I have, and I choose that she 
shall be respected/ Otto said. 

‘ If she is your friend, so much the worse/ replied the 
Doctor. ‘It will not stop there/ 

‘ Ah ! , cried Otto, ‘ thdre is the charity of virtue ! 
All evil in the spotted fruit. But I can tell you, sir, 
that you do Madame von Rosen prodigal injustice/ 


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165 


1 You can tell me ! ’ said the Doctor, shrewdly. * Have 
you tried ? have you been riding the marches ? ’ 

The blood came into Otto’s face. 

f Ah ! ’ cried Gotthold, ‘ look at your wife and blush ! 
There’s a wife for a man to marry and then lose ! She’s 
a carnation, Otto. The soul is in her eyes.’ 

‘ You have changed your note for Seraphina, I per- 
ceive,’ said Otto. 

‘ Changed it ! ’ cried the Doctor, with a flush. k ' Why, 
when was it different ? But I own I admired her at 
the council. When she sat there silent, tapping with 
her foot, I admired her as I might a hurricane. Were 
I one of those who venture upon matrimony, there had 
been the prize to tempt me ! She invites, as Mexico 
invited Cortez ; the enterprise is hard, the natives are 
unfriendly — I believe them cruel too — but the metrop- 
olis is paved with gold and the breeze blows out of para- 
dise. Yes, I could desire to be that conqueror. But 
to philander with von Rosen ; never ! Senses ? I dis- 
card them ; what are they ? — pruritus ! Curiosity ? 
Reach me my Anatomy ! ’ 

* To whom do you address yourself ? ’ cried Otto. 
* Surely, you, of all men, know that I love my wife ! ’ 

f 0, love ! ’ cried Gotthold ; f love is a great word ; it 
is in all the dictionaries. If you had loved, she would 
have paid you back. What does she ask ? A little 
ardour ! ’ 

* It is hard to love for two,’ replied the Prince. 


166 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ Hard ? Why, there's the touchstone ! 0, I know 

my poets ! ' cried the Doctor. ‘We are but dust and 
fire, too arid to endure life's scorching ; and love, like 
the shadow of a great rock, should lend shelter and 
refreshment, not to the lover only, but to his mistress 
and to the children that reward them ; and their very 
friends should seek repose in the fringes of that peace. 
Love is not love that cannot build a home. And you 
call it love to grudge and quarrel and pick faults ? 
You call it love to thwart her to her face, and bandy 
insults ? Love ! ' 

‘ Gotthold, you are unjust. I was then fighting for 
my country,' said the Prince. 

‘Ay, and there's the worst of all,' returned the 
Doctor. ‘ You could not even see that you were wrong ; 
that being where they were, retreat was ruin.' 

‘ Why, you supported me ! ' cried Otto. 

‘I did. I was a fool like you,' replied Gotthold. 
‘But now my eyes are open. If you go on as you have 
started, disgrace this fellow Gondremark, and publish 
the scandal of your divided house, there will befall a 
most abominable thing in Grunewald. A revolution, 
friend — a revolution.' 

‘ You speak strangely for a red,' said Otto. 

‘ A red republican, but not a revolutionary,' returned 
the Doctor. ‘ An ugly thing is a Grime walder drunk ! 
One man alone can save the country from this pass, and 
that is the double-dealer Gondremark, with whom I 


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conjure you to make peace. It will not be you ; it 
never can be you : — you, who can do nothing, as your 
wife said, but trade upon your station — you, who spent 
the hours in begging money ! And in God's name, 
what for ? Why money ? What mystery of idiocy was 
this ?> 

‘ It was to no ill end. It was to buy a farm,' quoth 
Otto, sulkily. 

f To buy a farm ! ' cried Gotthold. * Buy a farm ! ' 

* Well, what then ? ' returned Otto. I have bought 
it, if you come to that.' 

Gotthold fairly bounded on his seat. ‘And how 
that ? ' he cried. 

* How ? ' repeated Otto, startled. 

f Ay, verily, how ! ' returned the Doctor. * How 
came you by the money ? ' 

The Prince's countenance darkened. f That is my 
affair,' said he. 

f You see you are ashamed,' retorted Gotthold. f And 
so you bought a farm in the hour of your country's need 
— doubtless to be ready for the abdication ; and I put 
it that you stole the funds. There are not three ways 
of getting money : there are but two : to earn and 
steal. And now, when you have combined Charles the 
Fifth and Long-fingered Tom, you come to me to fortify 
your vanity ! But I will clear my mind upon this 
matter : until I know the right and wrong of the trans- 
action, I put my hand behind my back. A man may 


168 


PRINCE OTTO 


be the pitifullest prince, he must be a spotless gentle- 
man/ 

The Prince had gotten to his feet, as pale as paper. 
‘ Gotthold/ he said, f you drive me beyond bounds. 
Beware, sir, beware 

* Do you threaten me, friend Otto ? 9 asked the 
Doctor, grimly. ' That would be a strange conclusion/ 
‘ When have you ever known me use my power in 
any private animosity ? 9 cried Otto. f To any private 
man, your words were an unpardonable insult, but 
at me you shoot in full security, and I must turn 
aside to compliment you on your plainness. I must do 
more than pardon, I must admire, because you have 
faced this — this formidable monarch, like a Nathan 
before David. You have uprooted an old kindness, sir, 
with an unsparing hand. You leave me very bare. My 
last bond is broken ; and though I take Heaven to 
witness that I sought to do the right, I have this re- 
ward : to find myself alone. You say I am no gentle- 
man ; yet the sneers have been upon your side ; and 
though I can very well perceive where you have lodged 
your sympathies, I will forbear the taunt/ 

‘ Otto, are you insane ? 9 cried Gotthold, leaping up. 
‘ Because I ask you how you came by certain moneys, 

and because you refuse 9 

( Herr von Hohenstockwitz, I have ceased to invite 
your aid in my affairs/ said Otto. ‘ I have heard all 
that I desire, and you have sufficiently trampled on 


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my vanity. It may be that I cannot govern, it may 
be that I cannot love — you tell me so with every marie 
of honesty ; but God has granted me one virtue, and 
I can still forgive. I forgive you ; even in this hour 
of passion, I can perceive my faults and your excuses ; 
and if I desire that in future I may be spared your 
conversation, it is not, sir, from resentment — not resent- 
ment — but, by Heaven, because no man on earth could 
endure to be so rated. You have the satisfaction to see 
your sovereign weep ; and that person whom you have 
so often taunted with his happiness reduced to the last 
pitch of solitude and misery. No, — I will hear noth- 
ing ; I claim the last word, sir, as your Prince ; and 
that last word shall be — forgiveness/ 

And with that Otto was gone from the apartment, 
and Doctor Gotthold was left alone with the most con- 
flicting sentiments of sorrow, remorse, and merriment ; 
walking to and fro before his table, and asking himself, 
with hands uplifted, which of the pair of them was most 
to blame for this unhappy rupture. Presently, he took 
from a cupboard a bottle of Rhine wine and a goblet 
of the deep Bohemian ruby. The first glass a little 
warmed and comforted his bosom ; with the second 
he began to look down upon these troubles from a sunny 
mountain ; yet a while, and filled with this false com- 
fort and contemplating life throughout a golden me- 
dium, he owned to himself, with a flush, a smile, and 
a half -pleasurable sigh, that he had been somewhat over 


170 


PBINCE OTTO 


plain in dealing with his cousin. * He said the truth, 
too/ added the penitent librarian, * for in my monkish 
fashion I adore the Princess/ And then, with a still 
deepening flush and a certain stealth, although he sat 
all alone in that great gallery, he toasted Seraphina* 
to the dregs. 


CHAPTER XI 


PEOYIDENCE YOH EOSEH : ACT THE FIEST : SHE 
BEGUILES THE BAEOH 

At a sufficiently late hour, or to be more exact, at 
three in the afternoon, Madame yon Rosen issued on 
the world. She swept downstairs and out across the 
garden, a black mantilla thrown over her head, and 
the long train of her black velvet dress ruthlessly sweep- 
ing in the dirt. 

At the other end of that long garden, and back to 
back with the villa of the Countess, stood the large 
mansion where the Prime Minister transacted his affairs 
and pleasures. This distance, which was enough for 
decency by the easy canons of Mittwalden, the Countess 
swiftly traversed, opened a little door with a key, 
mounted a flight of stairs, and entered unceremoniously 
into Gondremark's study. It was a large and very high 
apartment ; books all about the walls, papers on the table, 
papers on the floor ; here and there a picture, some- 
what scant of drapery ; a great fire glowing and flaming 
in the blue tiled hearth ; and the daylight streaming 
through a cupola above. In the midst of this sat the 
great Baron Gondremark in his shirt-sleeves, his busi- 


172 


PRINCE OTTO 


ness for that day fairly at an end, and the hour arrived 
for relaxation. His expression, his very nature, seemed 
to have undergone a fundamental change. Gondre- 
mark at home appeared the very antipode of Gond re- 
mark on duty. He had an air of massive jollity that 
well became him ; grossness and geniality sat upon 
his features ; and along with his manners, he had 
laid aside his sly and sinister expression. He lolled 
there, sunning his bulk before the fire, a noble animal. 

‘ Hey ! 9 he cried. ‘ At last ! 9 

The Countess stepped into the room in silence, threw 
herself on a chair, and crossed her legs. In her lace 
and velvet, with a good display of smooth black stock- 
ing and of snowy petticoat, and with the refined profile 
of her face and slender plumpness of her body, she 
showed in singular contrast to the big, black intellect- 
ual satyr by the fire. 

‘ How often do you send for me ? 9 she cried. ‘ It 
is compromising/ 

Gondremark laughed. ‘ Speaking of that/ said he, 
‘what in the devil’s name were you about ? You were 
not home till morning.’ 

f I was giving alms,’ she said. 

The Baron again laughed loud and long, for in his 
shirt-sleeves he was a very mirthful creature. ‘ It is for- 
tunate I am not jealous,’ he remarked. ‘ But you know 
my way : pleasure and liberty go hand in hand. I 
believe what I believe ; it is not much, but I believe 


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it. But now, to business. Have you not read my 
letter ? 9 

'No/ she said, ‘my bead ached/ 

‘ Ah well ! then I have news indeed ! ’ cried Gondre- 
mark. ‘ I was mad to see you all last night and all this 
morning : for yesterday afternoon I brought my long 
business to a head ; the ship has come home ; one more 
dead lift, and I shall cease to fetch and carry for the 
Princess Ratafia. Yes, ’tis done. I have the order all 
in Ratafia’s hand ; I carry it on my heart. At the hour 
of twelve to-night. Prince Peatherhead is to be taken in 
his bed and, like the bambino, whipped into a chariot ; 
and by next morning he will command a most romantic 
prospect from the donjon of the Felsenburg. Farewell, 
Featherhead ! The war goes on, the girl is in my hand ; 
1 have long been indispensable, but now I shall be sole. 
I have long/ he added exultingly, ‘ long carried this 
intrigue upon my shoulders, like Samson with the gates 
of Gaza ; now I discharge that burthen/ 

She had sprung to her feet a little paler. ‘Is this 
true ? 9 she cried. 

‘ I tell you a fact/ he asseverated. ‘ The trick is 
played/ 

‘ I will never believe it/ she said. ‘ An order ? In 
her own hand ? I will never believe it, Heinrich/ 

‘ I swear to you/ said he. 

‘ 0, what do you care for oaths — or I either ? What 
would you swear by ? Wine, women, and song ? It is 


17 4c 


PRINCE OTTO 


not binding/ she said. She had come quite close np to 
him and laid her hand upon his arm. ‘ As for the order 
— no, Heinrich, never. I will never believe it. I will 
die ere I believe it. You have some secret purpose — 
what, I cannot guess — but not one word of it is true/ 

* Shall I show it you ? 9 he asked. 

f You cannot/ she answered. * There is no such 
thing/ 

‘ Incorrigible Sadducee ! 9 he cried. ‘ Well, I will 
convert you ; you shall see the order/ He moved to a 
chair where he had thrown his coat, and then drawing 
forth and holding out a paper, f Read/ said he. 

She took it greedily, and her eye flashed as she 
perused it. 

f Hey ! 9 cried the Baron, f there falls a dynasty, and 
it was I that felled it ; and I and you inherit ! 9 He 
seemed to swell in stature ; and next moment, with a 
laugh, he put his hand forward. f Give me the dagger/ 
said he. 

But she whisked the paper suddenly behind her back 
and faced him, lowering. f Ho, no/ she said. * You 
and I have first a point to settle. Ho you suppose me 
blind ? She could never have given that paper but to 
one man, and that man her lover. Here you stand — 
her lover, her accomplice, her master — 0, I well believe 
it, for I know your power. But what am I ? * she 
cried ; I, whom you deceive ! , 

f Jealousy ! ’ cried Gondremark. f Anna, I would 


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175 


never have believed it ! But I declare to you by all 
that’s credible, that I am not her lover. I might be, I 
suppose ; but I never yet durst risk the declaration. 
The chit is so unreal ; a mincing doll ; she will and 
she will not ; there is no counting on her, by God ! 
And hitherto I have had my own way without, and keep 
the lover in reserve. And I say, Anna/ he added with 
severity, * you must break yourself of this new fit, my 
girl ; there must be no combustion. I keep the creature 
under the belief that I adore her ; and if she caught a 
breath of you and me, she is such a fool, prude, and 
dog in the manger, that she is capable of spoiling all/ 

* All very fine/ returned the lady. ' With whom do 
you pass your days ? and which am I to believe, your 
words or your actions ? ’ 

' Anna, the devil take you, are you blind ? 9 cried 
Gondremark. 'You know me. Am I likely to care 
for such a preciosa ? ’Tis hard that we should have 
been together for so long, and you should still take me 
for a troubadour. But if there is one thing that I de- 
spise and deprecate, it is all such figures in Berlin wool. 
Give me a human woman — like myself. You are my 
mate ; you were made for me ; you amuse me like the 
play. And what have I to gain that I should pretend 
to you ? If I do not love you, what use are you to 
me ? Why, none. It is as clear as noonday/ 

' Do you love me, Heinrich ? 9 she asked, languish- 
ing. f Do you truly ? 9 


176 


PKINCE OTTO 


‘ I tell you/ lie cried, f I love you next after myself. 
I should be all abroad if I bad lost you/ 

‘ Well, then/ said she, folding up the paper and 
putting it calmly in her pocket, ‘ I will believe you, 
and I join the plot. Count upon me. At mid- 
night, did you say ? It is Gordon, I see, that you 
have charged with it. Excellent ; he will stick at 
nothing/ 

Gondremark watched her suspiciously. ‘ Why do 
you take the paper ? 9 he demanded. ‘ Give it here/ 
f No/ she returned ; f I mean to keep it. It is I who 
must prepare the stroke ; you cannot manage it without 
me ; and to do my best I must possess the paper. 
Where shall I find Gordon ? In his rooms ? 9 She 
spoke with a rather feverish self-possession. 

‘Anna/ he said sternly, the black, bilious counte- 
nance of his palace role taking the place of the more 
open favour of his hours at home, ‘ I ask you for that 
paper. Once, twice, and thrice/ 

‘Heinrich/ she returned, looking him in the face, 
‘ take care. I will put up with no dictation/ 

Both looked dangerous ; and the silence lasted for a 
measurable interval of time. Then she made haste to 
have the first word ; and with a laugh that rang clear 
and honest, f Do not be a child/ she said. ‘ I wonder at 
you. If your assurances are true, you can have no 
reason to mistrust me, nor I to play you false. The 
difficulty is to get the Prince out of the palace without 


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177 


scandal. His valets are devoted ; his chamberlain a 
slave ; and yet one cry might ruin all/ 

‘ They must be overpowered/ he said,, following her 
to the new ground, ‘ and disappear along with him/ 

f And your whole scheme along with them ! 9 she 
cried. f He does not take his servants when he goes 
a-hunting : a child could read the truth. Ho, no ; the 
plan is idiotic ; it must be Katafia’s. But hear me. 
You know the Prince worships me ? 9 

‘ I know/ he said. * Poor Featherhead, I cross his 
destiny P 

* Well now/ she continued, f what if I bring him 
alone out of the palace, to some quiet corner of the 
Park — the Flying Mercury, for instance ? Gordon can 
be posted in the thicket ; the carriage wait behind the 
temple ; not a cry, not a scuffle, not a footfall ; simply, 
the Prince vanishes ! — What do you say ? Am I an 
able ally ? Are my beaux yeux of service ? Ah, Hein- 
rich, do not lose your Anna ! — she has power ! 9 

He struck with his open hand upon the chimney. 
‘ Witch ! 9 he said, ‘ there is not your match for devilry 
in Europe. Service ! the thing runs on wheels/ 

* Kiss me, then, and let me go. I must not miss m v 
Featherhead/ she said. 

‘ Stay, stay/ said the Baron ; ‘ not so fast. I wish, 
upon my soul, that I could trust you ; but you are, out 
and in, so whimsical' a devil that I dare not. Hang it, 

Anna, no ; it’s not possible ! 9 

12 


178 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ You doubt me, Heinrich ? 9 she cried. 

4 Doubt is not the word/ said he. "I know you. 
Once you were clear of me with that paper in your 
pocket, who knows what you would do with it ? — not 
you, at least — nor I. You see/ he added, shaking his 
head paternally upon the Countess, * you are as vicious 
as a monkey/ 

* I swear to you/ she cried, ‘ by my salvation . . . / 
f I have no curiosity to hear you swearing/ said the 
Baron. 

‘You think that I have no religion? You suppose 
me destitute of honour. Well/ she said, f see here : I 
will not argue, but I tell you once for all : leave me this 
order, and the Prince shall be arrested — take it from 
me, and, as certain as I speak, I will upset the coach. 
Trust me, or fear me : take your choice/ And she 
offered him the paper. 

■; The Baron, in a great contention of mind, stood 
irresolute, weighing the two dangers. Once his hand 
advanced, then dropped. ‘ Well/ he said, ‘ since trust 
is what you call it . . . / 

‘ No more/ she interrupted. ‘ Do not spoil your atti- 
tude. And now since you have behaved like a good 
sort of fellow in the dark, I will condescend to tell you 
why. I go to the palace to arrange with Gordon ; but 
how is Gordon to obey me ? And how can I foresee the 
hours ? It may be midnight ; ay, and it may be night- 
fall ; all’s a chance ; and to act, I must be free and hold 


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179 


the strings of the adventure. And now/ she cried, 
f your Vivien goes. Dub me your knight V And she 
held out her arms and smiled upon him radiant. 

* Well/ he said, when he had kissed her, f every man 
must have his folly ; I thank God mine is no worse. Off 
with you ! I have given a child a squib/ 


CHAPTER XII 


PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN .* ACT THE SECOND ; SHE 
INFORMS THE PRINCE 

It was the first impulse of Madame von Rosen to 
return to her own villa and revise her toilette. What- 
ever else should come of this adventure, it was her firm 
design to pay a visit to the Princess. And before that 
woman, so little beloved, the Countess would appear at 
no disadvantage. It was the work of minutes. Yon 
Rosen had the captain’s eye in matters of the toilette ; 
she was none of those who hang in Eabian helplessness 
among their finery and, after hours, come forth upon 
the world as dowdies. A glance, a loosened curl, a 
studied and admired disorder in the hair, a bit of lace, 
a touch of colour, a yellow rose in the bosom ; and the 
instant picture was complete. 

f That will do,’ she said. ‘ Bid my carriage follow 
me to the palace. In half an hour it should be there 
in waiting.’ 

The night was beginning to fall and the shops to 
shine with lamps along the tree-beshadowed thorough- 
fares of Otto’s capital, when the Countess started on 
her high emprise. She was jocund at heart ; pleasure 


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181 


and interest had winged her beauty, and she knew it. 
She paused before the glowing jeweller's ; she remarked 
and praised a costume in the milliner's window ; and 
when she reached the lime-tree walk, with its high, 
umbrageous arches and stir of passers-by in the dim 
allej^s, she took her place upon a bench and began to 
dally with the pleasures of the hour. It was cold, but 
she did not feel it, being warm within ; her thoughts, 
in that dark corner, shone like the gold and rubies at 
the jeweller's ; her ears, which heard the brushing of so 
many footfalls, transposed it into music. 

What was she to do ? She held the paper by which 
all depended. Otto and Gondremark and Ratafia, and 
the state itself, hung light in her balances, as light as 
dust ; her little finger laid in either scale would set all 
flying : and she hugged herself upon her huge prepon- 
derance, and then laughed aloud to think how giddily 
it might be used. The vertigo of omnipotence, the 
disease of Caesars, shook her reason. ‘ 0 the mad 
world !' she thought, and laughed aloud in exulta- 
tion. 

A child, finger in mouth, had paused a little way 
from where she sat, and stared wdth cloudy interest 
upon this laughing lady. She called it nearer ; but 
the child hung back. Instantly, with that curious pas- 
sion which you may see any woman in the world display, 
on the most odd occasions, for a similar end, the Count- 
ess bent herself with singleness of mind to overcome 


182 


PRINCE OTTO 


this diffidence ; and presently, sure enough, the child 
was seated on her knee, thumbing and glowering at 
her watch. 

' If you had a clay bear and a china monkey/ asked 
von Rosen, ' which would you prefer to break ? 9 

' But I have neither/ said the child. 

' Well/ she said, 'here is a bright florin, with which 
you may purchase both the one and the other ; and I 
shall give it you at once, if you will answer my question. 
The clay bear or the china monkey — come ? 9 

But the unbreeched soothsayer only stared upon the 
florin with big eyes ; the oracle could not be persuaded 
to reply ; and the Countess kissed him lightly, gave 
him the florin, set him down upon the path, and 
resumed her way with swinging and elastic gait. 

' Which shall I break ? 9 she wondered ; and she 
passed her hand with delight among the careful dis- 
arrangement of her locks. ' Which ? 9 and she con- 
sulted heaven with her bright eyes. 'Do I love both 
or neither ? A little — passionately — not at all ? Both 
or neither — both, I believe ; but at least I will make 
hay of Ratafia/ 

By the time she had passed the iron gates, mounted . 
the drive, and set her foot upon the broad flagged ter- 
race, the night had come completely ; the palace front 
was thick with lighted windows ; and along the balus- 
trade, the lamp on every twentieth baluster shone clear. 
A few withered tracks of sunset, amber and glow-worm 


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183 


green, still lingered in the western sky ; and she paused 
once again to watch them fading. 

f And to think/ she said, ‘ that here am I — destiny 
embodied, a norn, a fate, a providence — and have no 
guess upon which side I shall declare myself ! What 
other woman in my place would not be prejudiced, and 
think herself committed ? But, thank Heaven ! I was 
born just ! ' Otto's windows were bright among the 
rest, and she looked on them with rising tenderness. 
f How does it feel to be deserted ? 9 she thought. ' Poor 
dear fool ! The girl deserves that he should see this 
order.' 

Without more delay, she passed into the palace and 
asked for an audience of Prince Otto. The Prince, she 
was told, was in his own apartment, and desired to be 
private. She sent her name. A man presently returned 
with word that the Prince tendered his apologies, but 
could see no one. ‘ Then I will write,' she said, and 
scribbled a few lines alleging urgency of life and death. 
‘ Help me, my Prince,' she added ; ‘ none but you can 
help me.' This time the messenger returned more 
speedily and begged the Countess to follow him : the 
Prince was graciously pleased to receive the Frau Grafin 
von Rosen. 

Otto sat by the fire in his large armoury, weapons 
faintly glittering all about him in the changeful light. 
His face was disfigured by the marks of weeping ; he 
looked sour and sad ; nor did he rise to greet his visitor. 


184 


PRINCE OTTO 


but bowed, and bade the man begone. That kind of 
general tenderness which served the Countess for both 
heart and conscience, sharply smote her at this spectacle 
of grief and weakness ; she began immediately to enter 
into the spirit of her part ; and as soon as they were 
alone, taking one step forward and with a magnificent 
gesture — ' Up ! 9 she cried. 

' Madame von Rosen/ replied Otto, dully, 'you have 
used strong words. You speak of life and death. Pray, 
madam, who is threatened ? Who is there/ he added 
bitterly, ' so destitute that even Otto of Grunewald can 
assist him ?’ 

6 First learn/ said she, f the names of the conspirators : 
the Princess and the Baron Gondremark. Can you not 
guess the rest ? * And then as he maintained his silence 
— ' You ! 9 she cried, pointing at him with her finger. 
‘ ’Tis you they threaten ! Your rascal and mine have 
laid their heads together and condemned you. But they 
reckoned without you and me. We make & par tie carre, 
Prince, in love and politics. They lead an ace, but we 
shall trump it. Come, partner, shall I draw my card ? ’ 

' Madam/ he said, ' explain yourself. Indeed I fail to 
comprehend/ 

' See, then/ said she ; and handed him the order. 

He took it, looked upon it with a start ; and then, 
still without speech, he put his hand before his face. 
She waited for a word in vain. 

' What ! 9 she cried, ‘ do you take the thing down- 


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185 


heartedly ? As well seek wine in a milk-pail as love in 
that girl's heart ! Be done with this, and be a man. 
After the league of the lions, let us have a conspiracy of 
mice, and pull this piece of machinery to ground. You 
were brisk enough last night when nothing was at stake 
and all was frolic. Well, here is better sport; here is 
life indeed.' 

He got to his feet with some alacrity, and his face, 
which was a little flushed, bore the marks of resolution. 

* Madame von Rosen,' said he, ‘ I am neither uncon- 
scious nor ungrateful ; this is the true continuation of 
your friendship ; but I see that I must disappoint your 
expectations. You seem to expect from me some effort 
of resistance ; but why should I resist ? I have not 
much to gain ; and now that I have read this paper, and 
the last of a fool's paradise is shattered, it would be 
hyperbolical to speak of loss in the same breath with 
Otto of Grunewald. I have no party ; no policy ; no 
pride, nor anything to be proud of. For what benefit or 
principle under Heaven do you expect me to contend ? 
Or would you have me bite and scratch like a trapped 
weasel ? No, madam ; signify to those who sent you 
my readiness to go. I would at least avoid a scandal.' 

You go ? — of your own will, you go ?' she cried. 

f I cannot say so much, perhaps,' he answered ; ‘ but 
I go with good alacrity. I have desired a change some 
time ; behold one offered me ! Shall I refuse ? Thank 
God, I am not so destitute of humour as to make a 


186 


PRINCE OTTO 


tragedy of such a farce/ He flicked the order on the 
table. 'You may signify my readiness/ he added, 
grandly. 

'Ah/ she said, 'you are more angry than you own/ 

' I, madam ? angry ? ’ he cried. ' You rave. I have 
no cause for anger. In every way I have been taught 
my weakness, my instability, and my unfitness for the 
world. I am a plexus of weaknesses, an impotent 
Prince, a doubtful gentleman ; and you yourself, indul- 
gent as you are, have twice reproved my levity. And 
shall I be angry ? I may feel the unkindness, but I 
have sufficient honesty of mind to see the reasons of this 
coup d’etat / 

' From whom have you got this ? * she cried in won- 
der. ' You think you have not behaved well ? My 
Prince, were you not young and handsome, I should 
detest you for your virtues. You push them to the 
verge of commonplace. And this ingratitude 

'Understand me, Madame von Kosen/ returned the 
Prince, flushing a little darker, ' there can be here no 
talk of gratitude, none of pride. You are here, by 
what circumstance I know not, but doubtless led by 
your kindness, mixed up in what regards my family 
alone. You have no knowledge what my wife, your 
sovereign, may have suffered ; it is not for you — no, nor 
for me — to judge. I own myself in fault ; and were it 
otherwise, a man were a very empty boaster who should 
talk of love and start before a small humiliation. It is 


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187 


in all the copybooks that one should die to please his 
lady-love ; and shall a man not go to prison ? 9 

‘ Love ? And what has love to do with being sent to 
gaol ? , exclaimed the Countess, appealing to the walls 
and roof. f Heaven knows I think as much of love as 
any one ; my life would prove it ; but I admit no love, 
at least for a man, that is not equally returned. The 
rest is moonshine/ 

‘ I think of love more absolutely, madam, though I 
am certain no more tenderly, than a lady to whom I am 
indebted for such kindnesses/ returned the Prince. 
f But this is unavailing. We are not here to hold a 
court of troubadours/ 

f Still/ she replied, f there is one thing you forget. 
If she conspires with Gondremark against your liberty, 
she may conspire with him against your honour also/ 

* My honour ? 9 he repeated. ‘ For a woman, you 
surprise me. If I have failed to gain her love or play 
my part of husband, what right is left me ? or what 
honour can remain in such a scene of defeat ? No 
honour that I recognise. I am become a stranger. If 
my wife no longer loves me, I will go to prison, since 
she wills it ; if she love another, where should I be more 
in place ? or whose fault is it hut mine ? You speak, 
Madame von Rosen, like too many women, with a man’s 
tongue. Had I myself fallen into temptation (as. 
Heaven knows, I might) I should have trembled, hut 
still hoped and asked for her forgiveness ; and yet mine 


188 


PRINCE OTTO 


had been a treason in the teeth of love. But let me 
tell you, madam/ he pursued, with rising irritation, 
‘ where a husband by futility, facility, and ill-timed 
humours has outwearied his wife’s patience, I will suffer 
neither man nor woman to misjudge her. She is free ; 
the man has been found wanting.’ 

‘ Because she loves you not ? ’ the Countess cried. 
‘ You know she is incapable of such a feeling.’ 

‘ Rather, it was I who was born incapable of inspiring 
it,’ said Otto. 

Madame von Rosen broke into sudden laughter. 
‘ Fool,’ she cried, ‘ I am in love with you myself.’ 

‘ Ah, madam, you are most compassionate,’ the Prince 
retorted, smiling. f But this is waste debate. I know 
my purpose. Perhaps, to equal you in frankness, I 
know and embrace my advantage. I am not without 
the spirit of adventure. I am in a false position — so 
recognised by public acclamation : do you grudge me, 
then, my issue ? ’ 

‘If your mind is made up, why should I dissuade 
you ? ’ said the Countess. ‘ I own, with a bare face, I 
am the gainer. Go, you take my heart with you, or 
more of it than I desire ; I shall not sleep at night for 
thinking of your misery. But do not be afraid ; I 
would not spoil you, you are such a fool and hero.’ 

‘ Alas ! madam,’ cried the Prince, ‘ and your unlucky 
money ! I did amiss to take it, but you are a wonderful 
persuader. And I thank God, I can still offer you the 


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189 


fair equivalent. ’ He took some papers from the chim- 
ney. ‘ Here, madam, are the title-deeds/ he said ; 
‘ where I am going, they can certainly be of no use to 
me, and I have now no other hope of making up to you 
your kindness. You made the loan without formality, 
obeying your kind heart. The parts are somewhat 
changed ; the sun of this Prince of Griinewald is upon 
the point of setting ; and I know you better than to 
doubt you will once more waive ceremony, and accept 
the best that he can give you. If I may look for any 
pleasure in the coming time, it will be to remember that 
the peasant is secure, and my most generous friend no 
loser . 9 

‘Do you not understand my odious position ? 9 cried 
the Countess. ‘ Dear Prince, it is upon your fall that I 
begin my fortune/ 

‘ It was the more like you to tempt me to resistance/ 
returned Otto. ‘ But this cannot alter our relations ; 
and I must, for the last time, lay my commands upon 
you in the character of Prince/ And with his loftiest 
dignity, he forced the deeds on her acceptance. 

‘ I hate the very touch of them/ she cried. 

There followed upon this a little silence. ‘ At what 
time/ resumed Otto, ‘ (if indeed you know) am I to be 
arrested ?’ 

‘Your Highness, when you please / exclaimed the 
Countess. ‘Or if you choose to tear that paper, 
never / 


190 


PRINCE OTTO 


e I would rather it were done quickly/ said the Prince. 
‘ I shall take but time to leave a letter for the Princess/ 

‘Well/ said the Countess, ‘I have advised you to re- 
sist ; at the same time, if you intend to be dumb before 
your shearers, I must say that I ought to set about 
arranging your arrest. I offered *■ — she hesitated — ‘ I 
offered to manage it, intending, my dear friend — intend- 
ing, upon my soul, to be of use to you. Well, if you 
will not profit by my good will, then be of use to me ; 
and as soon as ever you feel ready, go to the Flying 
Mercury where we met last night. It will be none the 
worse for you ; and to make it quite plain, it will be 
better for the rest of us/ 

* Dear madam, certainly/ said Otto. ‘ If I am pre- 
pared for the chief evil, I shall not quarrel with details. 
Go, then, with my best gratitude ; and when I have 
written a few lines of leave-taking, I shall immediately 
hasten to keep tryst. To-night, I shall not meet so dan- 
gerous a cavalier/ he added, with a smiling gallantry. 

As soon as Madame von Rosen was gone, he made a 
great call upon his self-command. He was face to face 
with a miserable passage where, if it were possible, he 
desired to carry himself with dignity. As to the main 
fact, he never swerved or faltered ; he had come so 
heart-sick and so cruelly humiliated from his talk with 
Gotthold, that he embraced the notion of imprisonment 
with something bordering on relief. Here was, at least, 
a step which he thought blameless ; here was a way out 


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of his troubles. He sat down to write to Seraphina ; 
and his anger blazed. The tale of his forbearances 
mounted, in his eyes, to something monstrous ; still 
more monstrous, the coldness, egoism, and cruelty that 
had required and thus requited them. The pen which 
he had taken shook in his hand. He was amazed to 
find his resignation fled, but it was gone beyond his re- 
call. In a few white-hot words, he bade adieu, dubbing 
desperation by the name of love, and calling his wrath 
forgiveness ; then he cast but one look of leave-taking 
on the place that had been his for so long and was now 
to be his no longer ; and hurried forth — love’s prisoner 
— or pride’s. 

He took that private passage which he had trodden so 
often in less momentous hours. The porter let him out ; 
and the bountiful, cold air of the night and the pure 
glory of the stars received him on the threshold. He 
looked round him, breathing deep of earth’s plain fra- 
grance ; he looked up into the great array of heaven, 
and was quieted. His little turgid life dwindled to its 
true proportions ; and he saw himself (that great flame- 
hearted martyr !) stand like a speck under the cool 
cupola of the night. Thus he felt his careless injuries 
already soothed ; the live air of out-of-doors, the quiet 
of the world, as if by their silent music, sobering and 
dwarfing his emotions. 

f Well, I forgive her,’ he said. ‘If it.be of any use 
to her, I forgive.’ 


192 


PRINCE OTTO 


And with brisk steps, he crossed the garden, issued 
upon the Park and came to the Flying Mercury. A 
dark figure moved forward from the shadow of the 
pedestal. 

4 I have to ask your pardon, sir/ a voice observed, 4 but 
if I am right in taking you for the Prince, I was given 
to understand that you would be prepared to meet me/ 

6 Herr Gordon, I believe ? ’ said Otto. 

4 Herr Oberst Gordon/ replied that officer. 4 This is 
rather a ticklish business for a man to be embarked in ; 
and to find that all is to go pleasantly, is a great relief 
to me. The carriage is at hand ; shall I have the 
honour of following your Highness ?’ 

4 Colonel/ said the Prince, ‘ I have now come to that 
happy moment of my life, when I have orders to receive 
but none to give/ 

4 A most philosophical remark ! 9 returned the Colonel. 

4 Begad, a very pertinent remark ! it might be Plutarch. 
I am not a drop’s blood to your Highness, or indeed to 
any one in this principality ; or else I should dislike my 
orders. But as it is, and since there is nothing unnatu- 
ral or unbecoming on my side, and your Highness 
takes it in good part, I begin to believe we may have a 
capital time together, sir — a capital time. For a gaoler 
is only a fellow captive.’ 

4 May I inquire, Herr Gordon/ asked Otto, 4 what 
led you to accept this dangerous and I would fain hope 
thankless office ? ’ 


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193 


‘ Very natural, I am sure/ replied the officer of for- 
tune. f My pay is, in the meanwhile, doubled/ 

f Well, sir, I will not presume to criticise/ returned 
the Prince. f And I perceive the carriage/ 

Sure enough, at the intersection of two alleys of the 
Park, a coach and four, conspicuous by its lanterns, 
stood in waiting. And a little way off about a score 
of lancers were drawn up under the shadow of the 
trees. 


18 


CHAPTER XIII 


PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN : ACT THE THIRD : SHE 
ENLIGHTENS SERAPHINA 

When Madame von Rosen left the Prince, she hur- 
ried straight to Colonel Gordon ; and not content with 
directing the arrangements, she had herself accompanied 
the soldier of fortune to the Flying Mercury. The 
Colonel gave her his arm, and the talk between this 
pair of conspirators ran high and lively. The Countess, 
indeed, was in a whirl of pleasure and excitement ; her 
tongue stumbled upon laughter, her eyes shone, the 
colour that was usually wanting now perfected her face. 
It would have taken little more to bring Gordon to her 
feet — or so, at least, she believed, disdaining the idea. 

Hidden among some lilac bushes, she enjoyed the 
great decorum of the arrest, and heard the dialogue 
of the two men die away along the path. Soon after, 
the rolling of a carriage and the beat of hoofs arose 
in the still air of the night, and passed speedily farther 
and fainter into silence. The Prince was gone. 

Madame von Rosen consulted her watch. She had 
still, she thought, time enough for the titbit of her 
evening ; and hurrying to the palace, winged by the 


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195 


fear of Gondremark's arrival, she sent her name and a 
pressing request for a reception to the Princess Sera- 
phina. As the Countess von Rosen unqualified, she 
was sure to be refused ; but as an emissary of the 
Baron's, for so she chose to style herself, she gained 
immediate entry. 

The Princess sat alone at table, making a feint of 
dining. Her cheeks were mottled, her eyes heavy ; she 
had neither slept nor eaten ; even her dress had been 
neglected. In short, she was out of health, out of 
looks, out of heart, and hag-ridden by her conscience. 
The Countess drew a swift comparison, and shone 
brighter in beauty. 

‘ You come, madam, de la part de Monsieur le 
Baron / drawled the Princess. Be seated ! What 
have you to say ? 9 

‘ To say ? 9 repeated Madame von Rosen. ‘ 0, much 
to say! Much to say, that I would rather not, and 
much to leave unsaid that I would rather say. For I 
am like St. Paul, your Highness, and always wish to do 
the things I should not. Well ! to he categorical — that 
is the word ? — I took the Prince your order. He could 
not credit his senses. “ Ah," he cried, “ dear Madame 
von Rosen, it is not possible — it cannot be — I must hear 
it from your lips. My wife is a poor girl misled, she is 
only silly, she is not cruel." “ Mon Prince ," said I, 
“ a girl — and therefore cruel ; youth kills flies." — He 
had such pain to understand it ! 9 


196 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ Madame von Rosen/ said the Princess, in most 
steadfast tones, but with a rose of anger in her face, 
‘ who sent you here, and for what purpose ? Tell your 
errand/ 

* 0, madam, I believe you understand me very well/ 
returned von Rosen. ‘ I have not your philosophy. I 
wear my heart upon my sleeve, excuse the indecency ! 
It is a very little one/ she laughed, * and I so often 
change the sleeve ! 9 

‘ Am I to understand the Prince has been arrested ? 9 
asked the Princess, rising. 

* While you sat there dining ! 9 cried the Countess, 
still nonchalantly seated. 

* You have discharged your errand/ was the reply ; 
‘ I will not detain you/ 

f 0 no, madam/ said the Countess, f with your per- 
mission, I have not yet done. I have borne much this 
evening in your service. I have suffered. I was made 
to suffer in your service/ She unfolded her fan as she 
spoke. Quick as her pulses beat, the fan waved lan- 
guidly. She betrayed her emotion only by the bright- 
ness of her eyes and face, and by the almost insolent 
triumph with which she looked down upon the Princess. 
There were old scores of rivalry between them in more 
than one field ; so at least von Rosen felt ; and now she 
was to have her hour of victory in them all. 

f You are no servant, Madame von Rosen, of mine/ 
said Seraph ina. 


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197 


‘ No, madam, indeed/ returned the Countess ; * but 
we both serve the same person, as you know — or if you 
do not, then I have the pleasure of informing you. 
Your conduct is so light — so light/ she repeated, the 
fan wavering higher like a butterfly, ' that perhaps you 
do not truly understand/ The Countess rolled her fan 
together, laid it in her lap, and rose to a less languorous 
position. ‘ Indeed/ she continued, ‘ I should be sorry 
to see any young woman in your situation. You began 
with every advantage — birth, a suitable marriage — quite 
pretty too — and see what you have come to ! My poor 
girl, to think of it ! But there is nothing that does so 
much harm/ observed the Countess finely, * as giddiness 
of mind/ And she once more unfurled the fan, and 
approvingly fanned herself. 

* I will no longer permit you to forget yourself/ cried 
Seraphina. ‘ I think you are mad/ 

‘ Not mad/ returned von Bosen. f Sane enough to 
know you dare not break with me to-night, and to profit 
by the knowledge. I left my poor, pretty Prince Charm- 
ing crying his eyes out for a wooden doll. My heart is 
soft ; I love my pretty Prince ; you will never under- 
stand it, but I long to give my Prince his doll, dry his 
poor eyes, and send him off happy. 0, you immature 
fool ! * the Countess cried, rising to her feet, and point- 
ing at the Princess the closed fan that now began to 
tremble in her hand. f 0 wooden doll ! , she cried, 
‘ have you a heart, or blood, or any nature ? This is a 


198 


PRINCE OTTO 


man, child — a man who loves you. 0, it will not hap- 
pen twice ! it is not common ; beautiful and clever 
women look in vain for it. And you, you pitiful school- 
girl, tread this jewel under foot ! you, stupid with your 
vanity ! Before you try to govern kingdoms, you should 
first be able to behave yourself at home ; home is the 
woman’s kingdom.’ She paused and laughed a little, 
strangely to hear and look upon. ‘ I will tell you one 
of the things,’ she said, ‘that were to stay unspoken. 
Yon Rosen is a better woman than you, my Princess, 
though you will never have the pain of understanding 
it ; and when I took the Prince your order, and looked 
upon his face, my soul was melted — 0, I am frank — 
here, within my arms, I offered him repose ! ’ She ad- 
vanced a step superbly as she spoke, with outstretched 
arms ; and Seraphina shrank. ‘ Do not be alarmed ! ’ 
the Countess cried ; e I am not offering that hermitage 
to you ; in all the world there is but one who wants to, 
and him you have dismissed! “If it will give her 
pleasure I should wear the martyr’s crown,” he cried, 
“ I will embrace the thorns.” I tell you — I am quite 
frank — I put the order in his power and begged him to 
resist. You, who have betrayed your husband, may be- 
tray me to Gondremark ; my Prince would betray no 
one. Understand it plainly,’ she cried, *’tis of his pure 
forbearance you sit there ; he had the power — I gave it 
him — to change the parts ; and he refused and went to 
prison in your place.’ 


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199 


The Princess spoke with some distress. ‘Your vio- 
lence shocks me and pains me/ she began, ‘ but I can- 
not be angry with what at least does honour to the 
mistaken kindness of your heart : it was right for me 
to know this. I will condescend to tell you. It w r as 
with deep regret that I was driven to this step. I 
admit in many ways the Prince — I admit his amiability. 
It w r as our great misfortune, it was perhaps somewhat 
of my fault, that we were so unsuited to each other ; but 
I have a regard, a sincere regard, for all his qualities. 
As a private person I should think as you do. It 
is difficult, I know, to make allowances for state 
considerations. I have only with deep reluctance 
obeyed the call of a superior duty ; and so soon as 
I dare do it for the safety of the state, I promise you 
the Prince shall be released. Many in my situation 
would have resented your freedoms. I am not — 9 
and she looked for a moment rather piteously upon 
the Countess — * I am not altogether so inhuman as you 
think/ 

‘And you can put these troubles of the state/ the 
Countess cried, ‘ to weigh with a man’s love ? 9 

‘ Madame von Rosen, these troubles are affairs of 
life and death to many ; to the Prince, and perhaps 
even to yourself, among the number/ replied the Prin- 
cess, with dignity. ‘ I have learned, madam, although 
still so young, in a hard school, that my own feelings 
must everywhere come last/ 


200 


PRINCE OTTO 


e 0 callow innocence ! , exclaimed the other. * Is it 
possible you do not know, or do not suspect, the in- 
trigue in which you move ? I find it in my heart to 
pity you ! We are both women after all — poor girl, poor 
girl ! — and who is born a woman is born a fool. And 
though I hate all women — come, for the common folly, 
I forgive you. Your Highness 9 — she dropped a deep 
stage courtesy and resumed her fan — f I am going to 
insult you, to betray one who is called my lover, and 
if it pleases you to use the power I now put unre- 
servedly into your hands, to ruin my dear self. 0, 
what a French comedy ! You betray, I betray, they 
betray. It is now my cue. The letter, yes. Behold 
the letter, madam, its seal unbroken as I found it by 
my bed this morning ; for I was out of humour, and 
I get many, too many, of these favours. For your 
own sake, for the sake of my Prince Charming, for 
the sake of this great principality that sits so heavy 
on your conscience, open it and read ! , 

f Am I to understand/ inquired the Princess, ‘ that 
this letter in any -way regards me ? 9 

‘ You see I have not opened it/ replied von Rosen ; 
‘ but Tis mine, and I beg you to experiment/ 

‘ I cannot look at it till you have/ returned Seraphina, 
very seriously. ‘ There may be matter there not meant 
for me to see ; it is a private letter/ 

The Countess tore it open, glanced it through, and 
tossed it back ; and the Princess, taking up the sheet, 


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201 


recognised the hand of Gondremark, and read with a 
sickening shock the following lines : — 

‘ Dearest Anna, come at once. Ratafia has done the deed, her 
husband to be packed to prison. This puts the minx entirely in 
my power ; le tour est joue ; she will now go steady in harness, or 
I will know the reason why. Come. 

‘Heinrich.’ 

" Command yourself, madam/ said the Countess, 
watching with some alarm the white face of Seraphina. 
" It is in vain for you to fight with Gondremark : he 
has more strings than mere court favour, and could 
bring you down to-morrow with a word. I would not 
have betrayed him otherwise ; but Heinrich is a man, 
and plays with all of you like marionettes. And now 
at least you see for what you sacrificed my Prince. 
Madam, will you take some wine ? I have been cruel/ 
f Hot cruel, madam — salutary/ said Seraphina, with 
a phantom smile. "Ho, I thank you, I require no 
attentions. The first surprise affected me : will you 
give me time a little ? I must think/ 

She took her head between her hands, and contem- 
plated for a while the hurricane confusion of her 
thoughts. 

"This information reaches me/ she said, "when I 
have need of it. I would not do as you have done, but 
yet I thank you. I have been much deceived in Baron 
Gondremark/ 


202 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ 0, madam, leave G-ondremark, and think upon the 
Prince ! 9 cried von Rosen. 

‘ You speak once more as a private person/ said the 
Princess ; ‘ nor do I blame you. But my own thoughts 
are more distracted. However, as I believe you are 

truly a friend to my — to the as I believe/ she said, 

‘ you are a friend to Otto, I shall put the order for his 
release into your hands this moment. Give me the ink- 
dish. There I' And she wrote hastily, steadying her 
arm upon the table, for she trembled like a reed. 

‘ Remember, madam/ she resumed, handing her the 
order, ‘ this must not be used nor spoken of at present ; 
till I have seen the Baron, any hurried step — I lose 
myself in thinking. The suddenness has shaken me/ 

‘ I promise you I will not use it/ said the Countess, 
‘till you give me leave, although I wish the Prince 
could be informed of it, to comfort his poor heart. And 
oh, I had forgotten, he has left a letter. Suffer me, 
madam ; I will bring it you. This is the door, I 
think ? 9 And she sought to open it. 

‘ The bolt is pushed/ said Seraphina, flushing. 

‘ 0 ! 0 ! 9 cried the Countess. 

A silence fell between them. 

‘ I will get it for myself/ said Seraphina ; ‘ and in the 
meanwhile I beg you to leave me. I thank you, I am 
sure, but I shall be obliged if you will leave me/ 

The Countess deeply courtesied, and withdrew. 


CHAPTER XIY 


RELATES THE CAUSE AND OUTBREAK OF THI^ 
REVOLUTION 

Brave as she was, and brave by intellect, the Prin- 
cess, when first she was alone, clung to the table for sup- 
port. The four corners of her universe had fallen. She 
had never liked nor trusted Gondremark completely ; 
she had still held it possible to find him false to friend- 
ship ; but from that to finding him devoid of all those 
public virtues for which she had honoured him, a mere 
commonplace intriguer, using her for his own ends, the 
step was wide and the descent giddy. Light and dark- 
ness succeeded each other in her brain ; now she 
believed, and now she could not. She turned, blindly 
groping for the note. But von Rosen, who had not 
forgotten to take the warrant from the Prince, had 
remembered to recover her note from the Princess : von 
Rosen was an old campaigner, whose most violent 
emotion aroused rather than clouded the vigour of her 
reason. 

The thought recalled to Seraphina the remembrance 
of the other letter — Otto's. She rose and went speedily, 
her brain still wheeling, and burst into the Prince's 


204 


PRINCE OTTO 


armoury. The old chamberlain was there in waiting ; 
and the sight of another face, prying (or so she felt) on 
her distress, struck Seraphina into childish anger. 

* Go ! 9 she cried ; and then, when the old man was 
already half way to the door, * Stay ! 9 she added. * As 
soon as Baron Gondremark arrives, let him attend me 
here/ 

‘ It shall be so directed/ said the chamberlain. 

‘ There was a letter . . . / she began, and paused. 

‘ Her Highness/ said the chamberlain, f will find a 
letter on the table. I had received no orders, or her 
Highness had been spared this trouble/ 

* Ho, no, no/ she cried. ‘ I thank you. I desire to 
be alone/ 

And then, when he was gone, she leaped upon the 
letter. Her mind was still obscured ; like the moon 
upon a night of clouds and wind, her reason shone and 
was darkened ; and she read the words by flashes. 

‘Seraphina/ the Prince wrote, ‘I will write no syllable of 
reproach. I have seen your order, and I go. What else is left 
me ? I have wasted my love, and have no more. To say that I 
forgive you is not needful : at least, we are now separate for ever ; 
by your own act, you free me from my willing bondage ; I go free 
to prison. This is the last that you will hear of me in love or 
anger. I have gone out of your life ; you may breathe easy; you 
have now rid yourself of the husband who allowed you to desert 
him, of the Prince who gave you his rights, and of the married 
lover who made it his pride to defend you in your absence. How 
you have requited him, your owu heart more loudly tells you than 


A ROMANCE 


205 


my words. There is a day coining when your vain dreams will 
roll away like clouds, and you will find yourself alone. Then you 
will remember 

* Otto.’ 

She read with a great horror on her mind ; that day, 
of which he wrote, was come. She was alone ; she had 
been false, she had been cruel ; remorse rolled in upon 
her ; and then with a more piercing note, vanity bounded 
on the stage of consciousness. She a dupe ! she help- 
less ! she to have betrayed herself in seeking to betray 
her husband ! she to have lived these years upon flattery, 
grossly swallowing the bolus, like a clown with sharpers ! 
she — Seraphina ! Her swift mind drank the conse- 
quences ; she foresaw the coming fall, her public 
shame ; she saw the odium, disgrace, and folly of her 
story flaunt through Europe. She recalled the scandal 
she had so royally braved ; and alas ! she had now no 
courage to confront it with. To be thought the mis- 
tress of that man : perhaps for that .... She closed 
her eyes on agonising vistas. Swift as thought she had 
snatched a bright dagger from the weapons that shone 
along the wall. Ay, she would escape. From that 
world-wide theatre of nodding heads and buzzing whis- 
perers, in which she now beheld herself unpitiably mar- 
tyred, one door stood open. At any cost, through any 
stress of suffering, that greasy laughter should be stifled. 
She closed her eyes, breathed a wordless prayer, and 
pressed the weapon to her bosom. 


206 


PRINCE OTTO 


At the astonishing sharpness of the prick, she gave 
a cry and awoke to a sense of undeserved escape. A 
little ruby spot of blood was the reward of that great 
act of desperation ; but the pain had braced her like a 
tonic, and her whole design of suicide had passed away. 

At the same instant regular feet drew near along the 
gallery, and she knew the tread of the big Baron, so 
often gladly welcome, and even now rallying her spirits 
like a call to battle. She concealed the dagger in the 
folds of her skirt ; and drawing her stature up, she 
stood firm-footed, radiant with anger, waiting for the 
foe. 

The Baron was announced, and entered. To him, 
Seraphina was a hated task : like the schoolboy with 
his Virgil, he had neither will nor leisure to remark 
her beauties ; but when he now beheld her standing 
illuminated by her passion, new feelings flashed upon 
him, a frank admiration, a brief sparkle of desire. He 
noted both with joy ; they were means. f If I have to 
play the lover/ thought he, for that was his constant 
preoccupation, * I believe I can put soul into it/ Mean- 
while, with his usual ponderous grace, he bent before 
the lady. 

‘ I propose/ she said in a strange voice, not known 
to her till then, ‘that we release the Prince and do 
not prosecute the war/ 

tf Ah, madam/ he replied, ‘ His as I knew it would be ! 
Your heart, I knew, would wound you when we came to 


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207 


this distasteful but most necessary step. Ah, madam, 
believe me, I am not unworthy to be your ally ; I know 
you have qualities to which I am a stranger, and count 
them the best weapons in the armoury of our alliance : 
— the girl in the queen — pity, love, tenderness, laugh- 
ter ; the smile that can reward. I can only command ; 
I am the frowner. But you ! And you have the forti- 
tude to command these comely weaknesses, to tread them 
down at the call of reason. How often have I not ad- 
mired it even to yourself ! Ay, even to yourself/ he 
added tenderly, dwelling, it seemed, in memory on hours 
of more private admiration. * But now, madam 9 

* But now, Herr von Gondremark, the time for these 
declarations has gone by/ she cried. f Are you true to 
me ? are you false ? Look in your heart and answer : it 
is your heart I want to know.’ 

* It has come/ thought Gondremark. ‘ You, madam ! 9 
he cried, starting back — with fear, you would have said, 
and yet a timid joy. f You ! yourself, you bid me look 
into my heart ? ? 

* Do you suppose I fear ? 9 she cried, and looked at 
him with such a heightened colour, such bright eyes, 
and a smile of so abstruse a meaning, that the Baron 
discarded his last doubt. 

‘ Ah, madam ! ' he cried, plumping on his knees. 
' Seraphina ! Do you permit me ? have you divined my 
secret ? It is true— I put my life with joy into your 
power- — I love you, love with ardour, as an equal, as a 


208 


PRINCE OTTO 


mistress, as a brother-in-arms, as an adored, desired, 
sweet-hearted woman. 0 Bride ! 9 he cried, waxing 
dithyrambic, f bride of my reason and my senses, have 
pity, have pity on my love ! 9 

She heard him with wonder, rage, and then contempt. 
His words offended her to sickness ; his appearance, as 
he grovelled bulkily upon the floor, moved her to such 
laughter as we laugh in nightmares. 

‘ 0 shame ! ’ she cried. * Absurd and odious ! What 
would the Countess say ? ’ 

That great Baron Gondremark, the excellent politi- 
cian, remained for some little time upon his knees in a 
frame of mind which perhaps we are allowed to pity. 
His vanity, within his iron bosom, bled and raved. If 
he could have blotted all, if he could have withdrawn 
part, if he had not called her bride — with a roaring in 
his ears, he thus regretfully reviewed his declaration. 
He got to his feet tottering ; and then, in that first mo- 
ment when a dumb agony finds a vent in words, and the 
tongue betrays the inmost and worst of a man, he per- 
mitted himself a retort which, for six weeks to follow, 
he was to repent at leisure. 

* Ah/ said he, the Countess ? Now I perceive the 
reason of your Highness’s disorder.’ 

The lackey-like insolence of the words was driven 
home by a more insolent manner. There fell upon Ser- 
aphina one of those storm-clouds which had already 
blackened upon her reason ; she heard herself cry out ; 


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209 


and when the cloud dispersed, flung the blood-stained 
dagger on the floor, and saw Gondremark reeling back 
with open mouth and clapping his hand upon the 
wound. The next moment, with oaths that she had 
never heard, he leaped at her in savage passion ; 
clutched her as she recoiled ; and in the very act, stum- 
bled and drooped. She had scarce time to fear his 
murderous onslaught ere he fell before her feet. 

He rose upon one elbow ; she still staring upon him, 
white with horror. 

f Anna ! 9 he cried, Anna ! Help ! , 

And then his utterance failed him, and he fell back, 
to all appearance dead. 

Seraphina ran to and fro in the room ; she wrung her 
hands and cried aloud ; within she was all one uproar 
of terror, and conscious of no articulate wish but to 
awake. 

There came a knocking at the door ; and she sprang 
to it and held it, panting like a beast, and with the 
strength of madness in her arms, till she had pushed the 
bolt. At this success a certain calm fell upon her 
reason. She went back and looked upon her victim, the 
knocking growing louder. 0 yes, he was dead. She 
had killed him. He had called upon von Rosen with 
his latest breath ; ah ! who would call on Seraphina ? 
She had killed him. She, whose irresolute hand could 
scarce prick blood from her own bosom, had found 
strength to cast down that great colossus at a blow. 

14 


210 


PRINCE OTTO 


All this while the knocking was growing more up- 
roarious and more unlike the staid career of life in such 
a palace. Scandal was at the door, with what a fatal fol- 
lowing she dreaded to conceive ; and at the same time 
among the voices that now began to summon her by 
name she recognised the Chancellor’s. He or another, 
somebody must be the first. 

f Is Herr von Greisengesang without ? 9 she called. 

' Your Highness — yes ! 9 the old gentleman answered. 
‘ We have heard cries, a fall. Is anything amiss ? * 

€ Nothing/ replied Seraphina. ‘ I desire to speak 
with you. Send off the rest/ She panted between each 
phrase ; but her mind was clear. She let the looped cur- 
tain down upon both sides before she drew the bolt ; 
and, thus secure from any sudden eyeshot from without, 
admitted the obsequious Chancellor and again made fast 
the door. 

Greisengesang clumsily revolved among the wings of 
the curtain ; so that she was clear of it as soon as he. 

‘ My God ! ’ he cried. ‘ The Baron ! * 
f I have killed him/ she said. f 0, killed him ! 9 
‘ Dear me/ said the old gentleman, ‘ this is most 
unprecedented. Lovers’ quarrels/ he added ruefully, 

‘ redintegratio 9 and then paused. ‘ But, my dear 

madam/ he broke out again, ‘ in the name of all that 
is practical, what are we to do ? This is exceedingly 
grave ; morally, madam, it is appalling. I take the lib- 
erty, your Highness, for one moment, of addressing you 


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211 


as a daughter, a loved although respected daughter ; 
and I must say that I cannot conceal from you that this 
is morally most questionable. And, 0 dear me, we have 
a dead body ! , 

She had watched him closely ; hope fell to contempt ; 
she drew away her skirts from his weakness, and, in the 
act, her own strength returned to her. 

f See if he be dead/ she said ; not one word of ex- 
planation or defence ; she had scorned to justify herself 
before so poor a creature : ‘ See if he be dead 9 was all. 

With the greatest compunction, the Chancellor drew 
near ; and as he did so the wounded Baron rolled his 
eyes. 

‘ He lives/ cried the old courtier, turning effusively 
to Seraphina. f Madam, he still lives/ 

‘ Help him, then/ returned the Princess, standing 
fixed. * Bind up his wound/ 

‘ Madam, I have no means/ protested the Chancellor. 
* Can you not take your handkerchief, your neckcloth, 
anything ? 9 she cried ; and at the same moment, from 
her light muslin gown she rent off a flounce and tossed 
it on the floor. * Take that/ she said, and for the first 
time directly faced Greisengesang. 

But the Chancellor held up his hands and turned 
away his head in agony. The grasp of the falling Baron 
had torn down the dainty fabric of the bodice ; and — 
‘ 0 Highness ! ' cried Greisengesang, appalled, * the 
terrible disorder of your toilette ! * 


212 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ Take up that flounce/ she said ; ‘ the man may die/ 
Greisengesang turned in a flutter to the Baron, and 
attempted some innocent and bungling measures. * He 
still breathes/ he kept saying. ‘ All is not yet over ; he 
is not yet gone/ 

‘ And now/ said she, if that is all you can do, be- 
gone and get some porters ; he must instantly go home/ 
f Madam/ cried the Chancellor, ‘ if this most melan- 
choly sight were seen in town — 0 dear, the State would 
fall ! ’ he piped. 

* There is a litter in the Palace/ she replied. * It is 
your part to see him safe. I lay commands upon you. 
On your life it stands/ 

f I see it, dear Highness/ he jerked. ‘ Clearly I see 
it. But how ? what men ? The Prince’s servants — yes. 
They had a personal affection. They will be true, if any/ 
f 0, not them P she cried. f Take Sabra, my own man/ 
‘Sabra! The grand-mason?’ returned the Chan- 
cellor, aghast. ‘ If he but saw this, he would sound the 
tocsin — we should all be butchered.’ 

She measured the depth of her abasement steadily. 

‘ Take whom you must/ she said, * and bring the litter 
here/ 

Once she was alone she ran to the Baron, and with a 
sickening heart sought to allay the flux of blood. The 
touch of the skin of that great charlatan revolted her 
to the toes ; the wound, in her ignorant eyes, looked 
deathly ; yet she contended with her shuddering, and. 


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218 


with more skill at least than the Chancellor's, staunched 
the welling injury. An eye unprejudiced with hate 
would have admired the Baron in his swoon ; he looked 
so great and shapely ; it was so powerful a machine that 
lay arrested ; and his features, cleared for the moment 
both of temper and dissimulation, were seen to be so 
purely modelled. But it was not thus with Seraphina. 
Her victim, as he lay outspread, twitching a little, his 
big chest unbared, fixed her with his ugliness ; and her 
mind flitted for a glimpse to Otto. 

Rumours began to sound about the Palace of feet 
running and of voices raised ; the echoes of the great 
arched staircase were voluble of some confusion ; and 
then the gallery jarred with a quick and heavy tramp. 
It was the Chancellor, followed by four of Otto's valets 
and a litter. The servants, when they were admitted, 
stared at the dishevelled Princess and the wounded 
man ; speech was denied them, but their thoughts were 
riddled with profanity. Gondremark was bundled in ; 
the curtains of the litter were lowered ; the bearers car- 
ried it forth, and the Chancellor followed behind with a 
white face. 

Seraphina ran to the window. Pressing her face upon 
the pane, she could see the terrace, where the lights con- 
tended ; thence, the avenue of lamps that joined the 
Palace and town ; and overhead the hollow night and 
the larger stars. Presently the small procession issued 
from the Palace, crossed the parade, and began to thread 


214 


PRINCE OTTO 


the glittering alley : the swinging couch with its four- 
porters, the much-pondering Chancellor behind. She 
watched them dwindle with strange thoughts : her eyes 
fixed upon the scene, her mind still glancing right and 
left on the overthrow of her life and hopes. There was 
no one left in whom she might confide ; none whose hand 
was friendly, or on whom she dared to reckon for the 
barest loyalty. With the fall of Gondremark her party, 
her brief popularity, had fallen. So she sat crouched 
upon the window seat, her brow to the cool pane ; her 
dress in tatters, barely shielding her ; her mind revolv- 
ing bitter thoughts. 

Meanwhile, consequences were fast mounting ; and in 
the deceptive quiet of the night, downfall and red revolt 
were brewing. The litter had passed forth between the 
iron gates and entered on the streets of the town. By 
what flying panic, by what thrill of air communicated, 
who shall say ? but the passing bustle in the Palace had 
already reached and re-echoed in the region of the 
burghers. Rumour, with her loud whisper, hissed about 
the town ; men left their homes without knowing why ; 
knots formed along the boulevard ; under the rare lamps 
and the great limes the crowd grew blacker. 

And now through the midst of that expectant com- 
pany, the unusual sight of a closed litter was observed 
approaching, and trotting hard behind it that great dig- 
nitary Cancellarius Greisengesang. Silence looked on as 
it went by ; and as soon as it was passed, the whispering 


A ROMANCE 


215 


seethed over like a boiling pot. The knots were sun- 
dered ; and gradually, one following another, the whole 
mob began to form into a procession and escort the cur- 
tained litter. Soon spokesmen, a little bolder than their 
mates, began to ply the Chancellor with questions. 
Never had he more need of that great art of falsehood, 
by whose exercise he had so richly lived. And yet now 
he stumbled, the master passion, fear, betraying him. 
He was pressed ; he became incoherent ; and then from 
the jolting litter came a groan. In the instant hubbub 
and the gathering of the crowd as to a natural signal, 
the clear-eyed quavering Chancellor heard the catch of 
the clock before it strikes the hour of doom ; and for ten 
seconds he forgot himself. This shall atone for many 
sins. He plucked a bearer by the sleeve. ‘ Bid the Prin- 
cess flee. All is lost/ he whispered. And the next mo- 
ment he was babbling for his life among the multitude. 

Five minutes later the wild-eyed servant burst into the 
armoury. ‘ All is lost ! * he cried. * The Chancellor 
bids you flee/ And at the same time, looking through 
the window, Seraphina saw the black rush of the popu- 
lace begin to invade the lamplit avenue. 

‘ Thank you, Georg/ she said. ‘ I thank you. Go/ 
And as the man still lingered, * I bid you go/ she added. 
6 Save yourself/ 

Down by the private passage, and just some two hours 
later, Amalia Seraphina, the last Princess, followed Otto 
Johann Friedrich, the last Prince of Griinewald. 




BOOK III 


; ORTUNATE MISFORTUNE 






































































































































































































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FORTUNATE MISFORTUNE 


CHAPTEK I 

PRINCESS CINDERELLA 

The porter, drawn by the growing turmoil, had 
vanished from the postern, and the door stood open 
on the darkness of the night. As Seraphina fled up 
the terraces, the cries and loud footing of the mob 
drew nearer the doomed palace ; the rush was like 
the rush of cavalry ; the sound of shattering lamps 
tingled above the rest ; and overtowering all, she heard 
her own name bandied among the shouters. A bugle 
sounded at the door of the guard-room ; one gun was 
fired ; and then with the yell of hundreds, Mittwalden 
Palace was carried at a rush. 

Sped by these dire sounds and voices, the Princess 
scaled the long garden, skimming like a bird the star- 
lit stairways ; crossed the Park, which was in that 
place narrow ; and plunged upon the farther side into 
the rude shelter of the forest. So, at a bound, she 


220 


PRINCE OTTO 


left the discretion and the cheerful lamps of Palace 
evenings ; ceased utterly to be a sovereign lady ; and, 
falling from the whole height of civilisation, ran forth 
into the woods, a ragged Cinderella. 

She went direct before her through an open tract 
of the forest, full of brush and birches, and where the 
starlight guided her ; and beyond that again, must 
thread the columned blackness of a pine grove join- 
ing overhead the thatch of its long branches. At 
that hour, the place was breathless ; a horror of night 
like a presence occupied that dungeon of the wood ; 
and she went groping, knocking against the boles— 
her ear, betweenwhiles, strained to aching and yet 
unrewarded. 

But the slope of the ground was upward, and encour- 
aged her ; and presently she issued on a rocky hill that 
stood forth above the sea of forest. All around were 
other hilltops, big and little ; sable vales of forest be- 
tween ; overhead the open heaven and the brilliancy 
of countless stars; and along the western sky the dim 
forms of mountains. The glory of the great night 
laid hold upon her ; her eyes shone with stars ; she 
dipped her sight into the coolness and brightness of the 
sky, as she might have dipped her wrist into a spring ; 
and her heart, at that ethereal shock, began to move 
more soberly. The sun that sails overhead, plough- 
ing into gold the fields of daylight azure and uttering 
the signal to man's myriads, has- no word apart for 


A ROMANCE 


221 


man the individual ; and the moon, like a violin, only 
praises and laments our private destiny. The stars 
alone, cheerful whisperers, confer quietly with each of 
us like friends ; they give ear to our sorrows smilingly, 
like wise old men, rich in tolerance ; and by their 
double scale, so small to the eye, so vast to the imagi- 
nation, they keep before the mind the double character 
of man’s nature and fate. 

There sate the Princess, beautifully looking upon 
beauty, in council with these glad advisers. Bright 
like pictures, clear like a voice in the porches of her 
ear, memory re-enacted the tumult of the evening : 
The Countess and the dancing fan, the big Baron on his 
knees, the blood on the polished floor, the knocking, the 
swing of the litter down the avenue of lamps, the mes- 
senger, the cries of the charging mob ; and yet all were 
far away and phantasmal, and she was still healingly 
conscious of the peace and glory of the night. She 
looked towards Mittwalden ; and above the hilltop, 
which already hid it from her view, a throbbing redness 
hinted of fire. Better so : better so, that she should 
fall with tragic greatness, lit by a blazing palace ! She 
felt not a trace of pity for Gondremark or of concern 
for Grunewald : that period of her life was closed for 
ever, a wrench of wounded vanity alone surviving. She 
had but one clear idea : to flee ; — and another, obscure 
and half-rejected, although still obeyed : to flee in th.e 
direction of the Felsenburg. She had a duty to per- 


222 


PRINCE OTTO 


form, she must free Otto — so her mind said, very coldly ; 
but her heart embraced the notion of that duty even 
with ardour, and her hands began to yearn for the grasp 
of kindness. 

She rose, with a start of recollection, and plunged 
down the slope into the covert. The woods received 
and closed upon her. Once more, she wandered and 
hasted in a blot, uncheered, unpiloted. Here and 
there, indeed, through rents in the wood-roof, a glim- 
mer attracted her ; here and there, a tree stood out 
among its neighbours by some force of outline ; here 
and there, a brushing among the leaves, a notable black- 
ness, a dim shine, relieved, only to exaggerate, the solid 
oppression of the night and silence. And between- 
whiles, the unfeatured darkness would redouble and the 
whole ear of night appear to be gloating on her steps. 
How she would stand still, and the silence would grow 
and grow, till it weighed upon her breathing ; and then 
she would address herself again to run, stumbling, fall- 
ing, and still hurrying the more. And presently the 
whole wood rocked and began to run along with her. 
The noise of her own mad passage through the silence 
spread and echoed, and filled the night with terror. 
Panic hunted her : Panic from the trees reached forth 
with clutching branches ; the darkness was lit up and 
peopled with strange forms and faces. She strangled 
and fled before her fears. And yet in the last fortress, 
reason, blown upon by these gusts of terror, still shone 


A ROMAJNCK 




with a troubled light. She knew, yet could not act 
upon her knowledge ; she knew that she must stop, and 
yet she still ran. 

She was already near madness, when she broke sud- 
denly into a narrow clearing. At the same time the din 
grew louder, and she became conscious of vague forms 
and fields of whiteness. And with that the earth gave 
way ; she fell and found her feet again with an incredi- 
ble shock to her senses, and her mind was swallowed up. 

When she came again to herself, she was standing to 
the mid-leg in an icy eddy of a brook, and leaning with 
one hand on the rock from which it poured. The spray 
had wet her hair. She saw the white cascade, the stars 
wavering in the shaken pool, foam flitting, and high 
overhead the tall pines on either hand serenely drinking 
starshine ; and in the sudden quiet of her spirit, she 
heard with joy the firm plunge of the cataract in the 
pool. She scrambled forth dripping. In the face of 
her proved weakness, to adventure again upon the horror 
of blackness in the groves were a suicide of life or rea- 
son. But here, in the alley of the brook, with the kind 
stars above her, and the moon presently swimming into 
sight, she could await the coming of day without alarm. 

This lane of pine-trees ran very rapidly down hill and 
wound among the woods ; but it was a wider thorough- 
fare than the brook needed, and here and there were 
little dimpling lawns and coves of the forest, where the 
starshine slumbered. Such a lawn she paced, taking 


224 


PKINCE OTTO 


patience bravely; and now she looked up the hill and 
saw the brook coming down to her in a series of cas- 
cades ; and now approached the margin, where it welled 
among the rushes silently ; and now gazed at the great 
company of heaven with an enduring wonder. The 
early evening had fallen chill, but the night was now 
temperate ; out of the recesses of the wood there came 
mild airs as from a deep and peaceful breathing ; and 
the dew was heavy on the grass and the tight-shut 
daisies. This was the girl’s first night under the naked 
heaven ; and now that her fears were overpast, she was 
touched to the soul by its serene amenity and peace. 
Kindly the host of heaven blinked down upon that wan- 
dering Princess ; and the honest brook had no words 
but to encourage her. 

At last she began to be aware of a wonderful revolu- 
tion, compared to which the fire of Mittwalden Palace 
was but the crack and flash of a percussion cap. The 
countenance with which the pines regarded her began 
insensibly to change ; the grass too, short as it was, and 
the whole winding staircase of the brook’s course, be- 
gan to wear a solemn freshness of appearance. And 
this slow transfiguration reached her heart, and played 
upon it, and transpierced it with a serious thrill. She 
looked all about ; the whole face of nature looked back, 
brimful of meaning, finger on lip, leaking its glad se- 
cret. She looked up. Heaven was almost emptied of 
stars Such as still lingered shone with a changed and 


A ROMANCE 


225 


waning brightness/ and began to faint in their stations. 
And the colour of the sky itself was the most wonderful ; 
for the rich blue of the night had now melted and soft- 
ened and brightened ; and there had succeeded in its 
place a hue that has no name, and that is never seen 
but as the herald of morning. f 0 ! 9 she cried, joy 
catching at her voice, * 0 ! it is the dawn ! , 

In a breath she passed over the brook, and looped up 
her skirts and fairly ran in the dim alleys. As she ran, 
her ears were aware of many pipings, more beautiful 
than music ; in the small dish-shaped houses in the 
fork of giant arms, where they had lain all night, lover 
by lover, warmly pressed, the bright-eyed, big-hearted 
singers began to awaken for the day. Her heart melted 
and flowed forth to them in kindness. And they, from 
their small and high perches in the clerestories of the 
w r ood cathedral, peered down sidelong at the ragged 
Princess as she flitted below them on the carpet of the 
moss and tassel. 

Soon she had struggled to a certain hilltop, and saw 
far before her the silent inflooding of the day. Out of 
the East it welled and whitened ; the darkness trembled 
into light ; and the stars were extinguished like the 
street-lamps of a human city. The whiteness brightened 
into silver, the silver warmed into gold, the gold kindled 
into pure and living fire ; and the face of the East was 
barred with elemental scarlet. The day drew its first 
long breath, steady and chill ; and for leagues around 
15 


226 


PRINCE OTTO 


the woods sighed and shivered. And then, at one 
bound, the sun had floated up ; and her startled eyes 
received day’s first arrow, and quailed under the buffet. 

On every side, the shadows leaped from their ambush 
and fell prone. The day was come, plain and garish ; 
and up the steep and solitary eastern heaven, the sun, 
victorious over his competitors, continued slowly and 
royally to mount. 

Seraphina drooped for a little, leaning on a pine, the 
shrill joy of the woodlands mocking her. The shelter of 
the night, the thrilling and joyous changes of the dawn, 
were over ; and now, in the hot eye of the day, she 
turned uneasily and looked sighingly about her. Some 
way off among the lower w T oods, a pillar of smoke was i 
mounting and melting in the gold and blue. There, 
surely enough, were human folk, the hearth-surrounders. 
Man’s fingers had laid the twigs ; it was man’s breath j 
that had quickened and encouraged the baby flames ; \ 

and now, as the fire caught, it would be playing ruddily 
on the face of its creator. At the thought, she felt 
a-cold and little and lost in that great out-of-doors. The 
electric shock of the young sunbeams and the unhuman 
beauty of the woods began to irk and aaunt her. The 
covert of the house, the decent privacy of rooms, the ' 
swept and regulated fire, all that denotes or beautifies 1 
the home life of man, began to draw her as with cords. | 
The pillar of smoke was now risen into some stream of 
moving air ; it began to lean out sideways in a pennon ; 


A ROMANCE 


227 


and thereupon, as though the change had been a sum- 
mons, Seraphina plunged once more into the labyrinth 
of the wood. 

She left day upon the high ground. In the lower 
groves there still lingered the blue early twilight and the 
seizing freshness of the dew. But here and there, above 
this field of shadow, the head of a great outspread pine 
was already glorious with day; and here and there, 
through the breaches of the hills, the sunbeams made a 
great and luminous entry. Here Seraphina hastened 
along forest paths. She had lost sight of the pilot 
smoke, which blew another way, and conducted herself 
in that great wilderness by the direction of the sun. 
But presently fresh signs bespoke the neighbourhood of 
man ; felled trunks, white slivers from the axe, bundles 
of green boughs, and stacks of firewood. These guided 
her forward; until she came forth at last upon the 
clearing whence the smoke arose. A hut stood in the 
clear shadow, hard by a brook which made a series of 
inconsiderable falls ; and on the threshold, the Princess 
saw a sun-burnt and hard-featured woodman, standing 
with his hands ‘behind his back and gazing skyward. 

She went to him directly : a beautiful, bright-eyed, 
and haggard vision ; splendidly arrayed and pitifully 
tattered ; the diamond ear-drops still glittering in her 
ears ; and with the movement of her coming, one small 
breast showing and hiding among the ragged covert of 
the laces. At that ambiguous hour, and coming as she 


228 


PRINCE OTTO 


did from the great silence of the forest, the man drew 
back from the Princess as from something elfin. 

‘ I am cold/ she said, ‘ and weary. Let me rest 
beside yonr fire/ 

The woodman was visibly commoved, but answered 
nothing. 

* I will pay/ she said, and then repented of the words, 
catching perhaps a spark of terror from his frightened 
eyes. But, as usual, her courage rekindled brighter 
for the check. She put him from the door and entered ; 
and he followed her in superstitious wonder. 

Within, the hut was rough and dark ; but on the 
stone that served as hearth, twigs and a few dry branches 
burned with the brisk sounds and all the variable beauty 
of fire. The very sight of it composed her ; she crouched 
hard by on the earth floor and shivered in the glow, and 
looked upon the eating blaze with admiration. The 
woodman was still staring at his guest : at the wreck of 
the rich dress, the bare arms, the bedraggled laces and 
the gems. He found no word to utter. 

f Give me food/ said she, — f here, by the fire/ 

He set down a pitcher of coarse wine, bread, a piece 
of cheese, and a handful of raw onions. The bread 
was hard and sour, the cheese like leather ; even the 
onion, which ranks with the truffle and the nectarine 
in the chief place of honour of earth's fruits, is not 
perhaps a dish for princesses when raw. But she ate, if 
not with appetite, with courage ; and when she had 


A ROMANCE 


229 


eaten, did not disdain the pitcher. In all her life 
before, she had not tasted of gross food nor drank after 
another ; but a brave woman far more readily accept 8 
a change of circumstances than the bravest man. All 
that while, the woodman continued to observe her 
furtively, many low thoughts of fear and greed con- 
tending in his eyes. She read them clearly, and she 
knew she must begone. 

. Presently she arose and offered him a florin. 

‘ Will that repay you ? 9 she asked. 

But here the man found his tongue. f I must have 
more than that/ said he. 

* It is all I have to give you/ she returned, and passed 
him by serenely. 

Yet her heart trembled, for she saw his hand stretched 
forth as if to arrest her, and his unsteady eyes wander- 
ing to his axe. A beaten path led westward from the 
clearing, and she swiftly followed it. She did not 
glance behind her. But as soon as the least turning 
of the path had concealed her from the woodman^s 
eyes, she slipped among the trees and ran till she 
deemed herself in safety. 

By this time the strong sunshine pierced in a thou- 
sand places the pine-thatch of the forest, fired the red 
boles, irradiated the cool aisles of shadow, and burned in 
jewels on the grass. The gum of these trees was dearer 
to the senses than the gums of Araby ; each pine, in the 
lusty morning sunlight, burned its own wood-incense ; 


230 


PRINCE OTTO 


and now and then a breeze would rise and toss these 
rooted censers, and send shade and sun-gem flitting, 
swift as swallows, thick as bees ; and wake a brushing 
bustle of sounds that murmured and went by. 

On she passed, and up and down, in sun and shadow ; 
now aloft on the bare ridge among the rocks and birches, 
with the lizards and the snakes ; and anon in the deep 
grove among sunless pillars. Now she followed wan- 
dering wood-paths, in the maze of valleys ; and again, 
from a hilltop, beheld the distant mountains and the 
great birds circling under the sky. She would see afar 
off a nestling hamlet, and go round to avoid it. Below, 
she traced the course of the foam of mountain torrents. 
Nearer hand, she saw where the tender springs welled 
up in silence, or oozed in green moss ; or in the more 
favoured hollows a whole family of infant rivers would 
combine, and tinkle in the stones, and lie in pools to be 
a bathing-place for sparrows, or fall from the sheer rock 
in rods of crystal. Upon all these things, as she still 
sped along in the bright air, she looked with a rapture 
of surprise and a joyful fainting of the heart ; they 
seemed so novel, they touched so strangely home, they 
were so hued and scented, they were so beset and cano- 
pied by the dome of the blue air of heaven. 

At length, when she was well weary, she came upon a 
wide and shallow pool. Stones stood in it, like islands ; 
bullrushes fringed the coast ; the floor was paved with 
the pine needles, and the pines themselves, whose roots 


A ROMANCE 


231 


made promontories, looked down silently on their green 
images. She crept to the margin and beheld herself 
with wonder, a hollow and bright-eyed phantom, in the 
ruins of her palace robe. The breeze now shook her 
image ; now it would be marred with flies ; and at that 
she smiled ; and from the fading circles, her counter- 
part smiled back to her and looked kind. She sat long 
in the warm sun, and pitied her bare arms that were all 
bruised and marred with falling, and marvelled to see 
that she was dirty, and could not grow to believe that 
she had gone so long in such a strange disorder. 

Then, with a sigh, she addressed herself to make a 
toilet by that forest mirror, washed herself pure from 
all the stains of her adventure, took off her jewels and 
wrapped them in her handkerchief, re-arranged the tat- 
ters of her dress, and took down the folds of her hair. 
She shook it round her face, and the pool repeated her 
thus veiled. Her hair had smelt like violets, she re- 
membered Otto saying ; and so now she tried to smell 
it, and then shook her head, and laughed a little, sadly, 
to herself. 

The laugh was returned upon her in a childish echo. 
She looked up ; and lo ! two children looking on,— a 
small girl and a yet smaller boy, standing, like play- 
things, by the pool, below a spreading pine. Seraphina 
was not fond of children, and now she was startled to 
the heart. 

* Who are you ? > she cried, hoarsely. 


232 


PRINCE OTTO 


The mites huddled together and drew hack ; and 
Seraphina’s heart reproached her that she should have 
frightened things so quaint and little, and yet alive 
with senses. She thought upon the birds and looked 
again at her two visitors ; so little larger and so far 
more innocent. On their clear faces, as in a pool, she 
saw the reflection of their fears. With gracious purpose 
she arose. 

‘ Come/ she said, ‘do not be afraid of me/ and took 
a step towards them. 

But alas ! at the first moment, the two poor babes 
in the wood turned and ran helter-skelter from the 
Princess. 

The most desolate pang was struck into the girl’s 
heart. Here she was, twenty-two — soon twenty-three — 
and not a creature loved her ; none but Otto ; and 
would even he forgive ? If she began weeping in these 
woods alone, it would mean death or madness. Hastily 
she trod the thoughts out like a burning paper ; hastily 
rolled up her locks, and with terror dogging her, and 
her whole bosom sick with grief, resumed her journey. 

Past ten in the forenoon, she struck a highroad, 
marching in that place uphill between two stately 
groves, a river of sunlight ; and here, dead weary, care- 
less of consequences, and taking some courage from the 
human and civilised neighbourhood of the road, she 
stretched herself on the green margin in the shadow of 
a tree. Sleep closed on her, at first with a horror of 


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233 


fainting, but when she ceased to struggle, kindly em- 
bracing her. So she was taken home for a little, from 
all her toils and sorrows, to her Father’s arms. And 
there in the meanwhile her body lay exposed by the 
high wayside, in tattered finery ; and on either hand 
from the woods the birds came flying by and calling 
upon others, and debated in their own tongue this 
strange appearance. 

The sun pursued his journey ; the shadow flitted from 
her feet, shrank higher and higher, and was upon the 
point of leaving her altogether, when the rumble of a 
coach was signalled to and fro by the birds. The road 
in that part was very steep ; the rumble drew near with 
great deliberation ; and ten minutes passed before a 
gentleman appeared, walking with a sober elderly gait 
upon the grassy margin of the highway, and looking 
pleasantly around him as he walked. From time to 
time he paused, took out his note-book and made an 
entry with a pencil ; and any spy who had been near 
enough would have heard him mumbling words as 
though he were a poet testing verses. The voice of the 
wheels was still faint, and it was plain the traveller had 
far outstripped his carriage. 

He had drawn very near to where the Princess lay 
asleep, before his eye alighted on her ; but when it did 
he started, pocketed his note-book, and approached. 
There was a mile-stone close to where she lay ; and 
he sat down on that and coolly studied her. She 


234 


PRINCE OTTO 


lay upon one side, all curled and sunken, her brow 
on one bare arm, the other stretched out, limp and 
dimpled. Her young body, like a thing thrown down, 
had scarce a mark of life. Her breathing stirred her 
not. The deadliest fatigue was thus confessed in every 
language of the sleeping flesh. The traveller smiled 
grimly. As though he had looked upon a statue, he 
made a grudging inventory of her charms : the figure 
in that touching freedom of forgetfulness surprised 
him ; the flush of slumber became her like a flower. 

‘ Upon my word/ he thought, ‘ I did not think the 
girl could be so pretty. And to think/ he added, ‘ that 
I am under obligation not to use one word of this ! * 

He put forth his stick and touched her ; and at that 
she awoke, sat up with a cry, and looked upon him 
wildly. 

‘I trust your Highness has slept well/ he said, nod- 
ding. 

But she only uttered sounds. 

‘ Compose yourself/ said he, giving her certainly a 
brave example in his own demeanour. ‘ My chaise is 
close at hand ; and I shall have, I trust, the singular 
entertainment of abducting a sovereign Princess/ 

* Sir John ! * she said, at last. 

‘ At your Highnesses disposal/ he replied. 

She sprang to her feet. *0/ she cried, ‘have you 
come from Mittwalden ? 9 

‘ This morning/ he returned, e I left it ; and if there 


A KOMANCE 


235 


is any one less likely to return to it than yourself, 
behold him ! * 

‘ The Baron ’ she began, and paused. 

f Madam/ he answered, ‘ it was well meant, and you 
are quite a Judith; but after the hours that have 
elapsed, you will probably be relieved to hear that he is 
fairly well. I took his news this morning ere I left. 
Doing fairly well, they said, but suffering acutely. 
Hey ? — acutely. They could hear his groans in the 
next room/ 

‘ And the Prince/ she asked, * is anything known of 
him ?’ 

‘It is reported/ replied Sir John, with the same 
pleasurable deliberation, ‘that upon that point your 
Highness is the best authority/ 

‘ Sir John/ she said eagerly, ‘ you were generous 
enough to speak about your carriage. Will you, I 
beseech you, will you take me to the Felsenburg ? I 
have business there of an extreme importance/ 

‘ I can refuse you nothing/ replied the old gentle- 
man, gravely and seriously enough. ‘ Whatever, madam, 
it is in my power to do for you, that shall be done with 
pleasure. As soon as my chaise shall overtake us, it 
is yours to carry you where you will. But/ added he, 
reverting to his former manner, ‘ I observe you ask me 
nothing of the Palace/ 

‘ I do not care/ she said. ‘ I thought I saw it burn- 
ing/ 


286 


PRINCE OTTO 


" Prodigious ! , said the Baronet. " You thought ? 
And can the loss of forty toilettes leave you cold ? 
Well, madam, I admire your fortitude. And the state, 
too ? As I left, the government was sitting, — the new 
government, of which at least two members must be 
known to you by name : Sabra, who had, I believe, the 
benefit of being formed in your employment — a foot- 
man, — am I right ? — and our old friend the Chancellor, 
in something of a subaltern position. But in these 
convulsions, the last shall be first and the first last/ 

" Sir John/ she said, with an air of perfect honesty, 
" I am sure you mean most kindly, but these matters 
have no interest for me/ 

The Baronet was so utterly discountenanced, that he 
hailed the appearance of his chaise with welcome, and, 
by way of saying something, proposed that they should 
walk back to meet it. So it was done ; and he helped 
her in with courtesy, mounted to her side, and from 
various receptacles (for the chaise was most completely 
fitted out) produced fruits and truffled liver, beautiful 
white bread, and a bottle of delicate wine. With these 
he served her like a father, coaxing and praising her to 
fresh exertions ; and during all that time, as though 
silenced by the laws of hospitality, he was not guilty of 
the shadow of a sneer. Indeed his kindness seemed so 
genuine that Seraphina was moved to gratitude. 

"Sir John/ she said, "you hate me in your heart: 
why are you so kind to me ? 9 


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237 


‘Ah, my good lady/ said he, with no disclaimer of 
the accusation, ‘ I have the honour to be much your 
husband's friend, and somewhat his admirer/ 

c You !' she cried. ‘ They told me you wrote cruelly 
of both of us/ 

f Such was the strange path by which we grew 
acquainted/ said Sir John. ‘ I had written, madam, 
with particular cruelty (since that shall be the phrase) 
of your fair self. Your husband set me at liberty, 
gave me a passport, ordered a carriage, and then, with 
the most ’boyish spirit, challenged me to fight. Know- 
ing the nature of his married life, I thought the dash 
and loyalty he showed delightful. “ Do not be afraid/' 
says he ; “if I am killed, there is nobody to miss me." 
It appears you subsequently thought of that yourself. 
But I digress. I explained to him it was impossible 
that I could fight ! “ Hot if I strike you ? " says he. 

Very droll ; I wish I could have put it in my book. 
However, I was conquered, took the young gentleman 
to my high favour, and tore up my bits of scandal on 
the spot. That is one of the little favours, madam, 
that you owe your husband.' 

Seraphina sat for some while in silence. She could 
bear to be misjudged without a pang by those w r hom 
she contemned ; she had none of Otto's eagerness to 
be approved, but went her own way straight and head 
in air. To Sir John, however, after what he had said, 
and as her husband's friend, she was prepared to stoop. 


238 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ What do you think of me ? 9 she asked abruptly. 

* I have told you already/ said Sir John : ‘ I think 
you want another glass of my good wine/ 

‘ Come/ she said, ‘ this is unlike you. You are not 
wont to be afraid. You say that you admire my hus- 
band : in his name, be honest/ 

‘ I admire your courage/ said the Baronet. ‘ Beyond 
that, as you have guessed, and indeed said, our natures 
are not sympathetic/ 

* You spoke of scandal/ pursued Seraphina. * Was 
the scandal great ? 9 

f It was considerable/ said Sir John. 
f And you believed it ? 9 she demanded. 
f 0, madam/ said Sir John, * the question ! 9 
c Thank you for that answer ! 9 cried Seraphina. f And 
now here, I will tell you, upon my honour, upon my 
soul, in spite of all the scandal in this world, I am as 
true a wife as ever stood/ 

* We should probably not agree upon a definition/ 
observed Sir John. 

f 0 ! 9 she cried, f I have abominably used him — I know 
that ; it is not that I mean. But if you admire my 
husband, I insist that you shall understand me : I can 
look him in the face without a blush/ 

f It may be, madam/ said Sir John ; ‘ nor have I 
presumed to think the contrary/ 

f You will not believe me ?’ she cried. f You think 
I am a guilty wife ? You think he was my lover ? , 


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289 


* Madam/ returned the Baronet, ‘ when I tore up my 
papers, I promised your good husband to concern 
myself no more with your affairs ; and I assure you 
for the last time that I have no desire to judge you/ 

4 But you will not acquit me ! Ah ! ' she cried, ( he 
will — he knows me better !' 

Sir John smiled. 

‘ You smile at my distress ? ' asked Seraphina. 

‘ At your woman's coolness/ said Sir John. * A man 
would scarce have had the courage of that cry, which 
was, for all that, very natural, and I make no doubt 
quite true. But remark, madam — since you do me the 
honour to consult me gravely — I have no pity for what 
you call your distresses. You have been completely 
selfish, and now reap the consequence. Had you once 
thought of your husband, instead of singly thinking 
of yourself, you would not now have been alone, a fugi- 
tive, with blood upon your hands, and hearing from a 
morose old Englishman truth more bitter than scandal.' 

‘ I thank you/ she said, quivering. f This is very 
true. Will you stop the carriage ? 9 

f No, child/ said Sir John, not until I see you mis- 
tress of yourself.' 

There was a long pause, during which the carriage 
rolled by rock and woodland. 

‘ And now/ she resumed, with perfect steadiness, 
e will you consider me composed ? I request you, as a 
gentleman, to let me out.' 


240 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ I think you do unwisely/ he replied. ‘ Continue, if 
you please, to use my carriage/ 

‘Sir John/ she said, ‘if death were sitting on that 
pile of stones, I would alight ! I do not blame, I thank 
you ; I now know how I appear to others ; but sooner 
than draw breath beside a man who can so think of me, 

I would 0 ! * she cried, and was silent. 

Sir John pulled the string, alighted, and offered her 
his hand ; but she refused the help. 

The road had now issued from the valleys in which it 
had been winding, and come to that part of its course 
where it runs, like a cornice, along the brow of the steep 
northward face of Griinewald. The place where they 
had alighted was at a salient angle ; a bold rock and 
some wind -tortured pine-trees overhung it from above ; 
far below the blue plains lay forth and melted into 
heaven ; and before them the road, by a succession of 
bold zigzags, was seen mounting to where a tower upon 
a tall cliff closed the view. 

‘ There/ said the Baronet, pointing to the tower, ‘you 
see the Felsenburg, your goal. I wish you a good jour- 
ney, and regret I cannot be of more assistance/ 

He mounted to his place and gave a signal, and the 
carriage rolled away. 

Seraphina stood by the wayside, gazing before her 
with blind eyes. Sir John she had dismissed already 
from her mind : she hated him, that was enough ; for 
whatever Seraphina hcted or contemned fell instantly 


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241 


to Lilliputian smallness, and was thenceforward steadily 
ignored in thought. And now she had matter for con- 
cern indeed. Her interview with Otto, which she had 
never yet forgiven him, began to appear before her in a 
very different light. He had come to her, still thrilling- 
under recent insult, and not yet breathed from fighting 
her own cause ; and how that knowledge changed the 
value of his words ! Yes, he must have loved her ; this 
was a brave feeling — it was no mere weakness of the 
will. And she, was she incapable of love ? It would 
. appear so ; and she swallowed her tears, and yearned to 
see Otto, to explain all, to ask pity upon her knees for 
her transgressions, and, if all else were now beyond the 
reach of reparation, to restore at least the liberty of 
which she had deprived him. 

Swiftly she sped along the highway, and, as the road 
wound out and in about the bluffs and gullies of the 
mountain, saw and lost by glimpses the tall tower that 
stood before and above her, purpled by the mountain 
air. 


10 


CHAPTER II 


TREATS OF A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE 

When Otto mounted to his rolling prison, he found 
another occupant in a corner of the front seat ; but as 
this person hung his head and the brightness of the 
carriage lamps shone outward, the Prince could only see 
it was a man. The Colonel followed his prisoner and 
clapped to the door ; and at that the four horses broke 
immediately into a swinging trot. 

‘ Gentlemen/ said the Colonel, after some little while 
had passed, f if we are to travel in silence, we might as 
well be at home. I appear, of course, in an invidious 
character ; but I am a man of taste, fond of books and 
solidly informing talk, and unfortunately condemned for 
life to the guardroom. Gentlemen, this is my chance : 
don't spoil it for me. I have here the pick of the whole 
court, barring lovely woman ; I have a great author in 
the person of the Doctor ' 

g Gotthold ! 9 cried Otto. 

‘ It appears/ said the Doctor, bitterly, ‘ that we must 
go together. Your Highness had not calculated upon 
that/ 


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243 


‘ What do you infer ? , cried Otto ; ‘ that I had you 
arrested ? 9 

6 The inference is simple/ said the Doctor. 

‘ Colonel Gordon/ said the Prince, ' oblige me so 
far, and set me right with Herr yon Hohenstock- 
witz/ 

* Gentlemen/ said the Colonel, f you are both arrested 
on the same warrant in the name of the Princess Sera- 
phina, acting regent, countersigned by Prime Minister 
Freiherr von Gondremark, and dated the day before 
yesterday, the twelfth. I reveal to you the secrets of 
the prison house/ he added. 

‘ Otto/ said Gotthold, ‘ I ask you to pardon my sus- 
picions/ 

‘ Gotthold/ said the Prince, ‘ I am not certain I can 
grant you that/ 

‘ Your Highness is, I am sure, far too magnanimous 
to hesitate/ said the Colonel. ‘ But allow me : we 
speak at home in my religion of the means of grace : 
and I now propose to offer them/ So saying, the 
Colonel lighted a bright lamp which he attached to one 
side of the carriage, and from below the front seat pro- 
duced a goodly basket adorned with the long necks of 
bottles. ‘ Tu spem reducis — how does it go. Doctor ? 9 
he asked gaily. ' I am, in a sense, youl* host ; and I 
am sure you are both far too considerate of my embar- 
rassing position to refuse to do me honour. Gentlemen, 
I drink to the Prince ! , 


244 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ Colonel/ said Otto, f we have a jovial entertainer. 
I drink to Colonel Gordon/ 

Thereupon all three took their wine very pleasantly ; 
and even as they did so, the carriage with a lurch 
turned into the highroad and began to make better 
speed. 

All was bright within ; the wine had coloured Gott- 
hold's cheek ; dim forms of forest trees, dwindling and 
spiring, scarves of the starry sky, now wide and now 
narrow, raced past the windows ; through one that was 
left open the air of the woods came in with a nocturnal 
raciness ; and the roll of wheels and the tune of the 
trotting horses sounded merrily on the ear. Toast 
followed toast ; glass after glass was bowed across and 
emptied by the trio ; and presently there began to fall 
upon them a luxurious spell, under the influence of 
which little but the sound of quiet and confidential 
laughter interrupted the long intervals of meditative 
silence. 

f Otto/ said Gotthold, after one of these seasons of 
quiet, f I do not ask you to forgive me. Were the 
parts reversed, I could not forgive you. ’ 

‘ Well/ said Otto, f it is a phrase we use. I do for- 
give you, but your words and your suspicions rankle ; 
and not yours alone. It is idle, Colonel Gordon, in 
view of the order you are carrying out, to conceal from 
you the dissensions of my family ; they have gone so far 
that they are now public property. Well, gentlemen, 


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245 


can I forgive my wife ? I can, of course, and do ; but 
in what sense ? I would certainly not stoop to any re- 
venge ; as certainly I could not think of her but as one 
changed beyond my recognition/ 

‘ Allow me/ returned the Colonel. ‘ You will per- 
mit me to hope that I am addressing Christians ? 
We are all conscious, I trust, that we are miserable sin- 
ners/ 

‘ I disown the consciousness/ said Gotthold. ‘ Warmed 
with this good fluid, I deny your thesis/ 

‘ How, sir ? You never did anything wrong ? and I 
heard you asking pardon but this moment, not of your 
God, sir, but of a common fellow- worm P the Colonel 
cried. 

‘ I own you have me ; you are expert in argument, 
Herr Oberst/ said the Doctor. 

* Begad, sir, I am proud to hear you say so/ said the 
Colonel. ' I was well grounded indeed at Aberdeen. 
And as for this matter of forgiveness, it comes, sir, of 
loose views and (what is if anything more dangerous) a 
regular life. A sound creed and a bad morality, that's 
the root of wisdom. You two gentlemen are too good 
to be forgiving/ 

‘ The paradox is somewhat forced/ said Gotthold. 

‘ Pardon me. Colonel/ said the Prince ; ‘ I readily 
acquit you of any design of offence, but your words bite 
like satire. Is this a time, do you think, when I can 
wish to hear myself called good, now that I am paying 


246 


PRINCE OTTO 


the penalty (and am willing like yourself to think it just) 
of my prolonged misconduct ? 9 

‘ 0, pardon me ! ’ cried the Colonel. f You have 
never been expelled from the divinity hall ; you have 
never been broke. I was : broke for a neglect of mili- 
tary duty. To tell you the open truth, your Highness, 
I was the worse of drink ; it’s a thing I never do now/ 
he added, taking out his glass. 'But a man, you see, 
who has really tasted the defects of his own character, 
as I have, and has come to regard himself as a kind of 
blind teetotum knocking about life, begins to learn a 
very different view about forgiveness. I will talk of not 
forgiving others, sir, when I have made out to forgive 
myself, and not before ; and the date is like to be a long 
one. My father, the Reverend Alexander Gordon, was 
a good man, and damned hard upon others. I am what 
they call a bad one, and that is just the difference. The 
man who cannot forgive any mortal thing is a green 
hand in life/ 

( And yet I have heard of you. Colonel, as a duellist/ 
said Gotthold. 

* A different thing, sir/ replied the soldier. ‘ Profes- 
sional etiquette. And I trust without unchristian feeling/ 

Presently after the Colonel fell into a deep sleep ; and 
his companions looked upon each other, smiling. 

‘ An odd fish/ said Gotthold. 

' And a strange guardian/ said the Prince. ‘ Yet 
what he said was true/ 


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247 


"Rightly looked upon/ mused Gotthold, "it is our- 
selves that we cannot forgive, when we refuse forgive- 
ness to our friend. Some strand of our own misdoing 
is involved in every quarrel/ 

" Are there not offences that disgrace the pardoner ? 9 
asked Otto. " Are there not bounds of self-respect ? ’ 

" Otto/ said Gotthold, " does any man respect him- 
self ? To this poor waif of a soldier of fortune we may 
seem respectable gentlemen ; but to ourselves, what are 
we unless a pasteboard portico and a deliquium of 
deadly weaknesses within ? , 

" I ? yes/ said Otto ; " but you, Gotthold — you, with 
your interminable industry, your keen mind, your 
books — serving mankind, scorning pleasures and temp- 
tations ! You do not know how I envy you/ 

" Otto/ said the Doctor, " in one word, and a bitter 
one to say : I am a secret tippler. Yes, I drink too 
much. The habit has robbed these very books, to which 
you praise my devotion, of the merits that they should 
have had. It has spoiled my temper. When I spoke to 
you the other day, how much of my warmth was in the 
cause of virtue ? how much was the fever of last night's 
wine ? Ay, as my poor fellow-sot there said, and as I 
vaingloriously denied, we are all miserable sinners, put 
here for a moment, knowing the good, choosing the 
evil, standing naked and ashamed in the eye of God/ 
"Is it so ? 9 said Otto. " Why, then, what are we ? 


248 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ There is no best in man/ said Gotthold. * I am not 
better, it is likely I am not worse, than you or that poor 
sleeper. I was a sham, and now you know me : that 
is all/ 

' And yet it has not changed my love/ returned Otto, 
softly. f Our misdeeds do not change us. Gotthold, 
fill your glass. Let us drink to what is good in this bad 
business ; let us drink to our old affection ; and, when 
we have done so, forgive your too just grounds of 
offence, and drink with me to my wife, whom I have so 
misused, who has so misused me, and whom I have left, 
I fear, I greatly fear, in danger. What matters it how 
bad we are, if others can still love us, and we can still 
love others ? 9 

‘ Ay ! 9 replied the Doctor. f It is very well said. It 
is the true answer to the pessimist, and the standing 
miracle of mankind. So you still love me ? and so you 
can forgive your wife ? Why, then, we may bid con- 
science “ Down, dog,” like an ill- trained puppy yapping 
at shadows/ 

The pair fell into silence, the Doctor tapping on his 
empty glass. 

The carriage swung forth out of the valleys on that 
open balcony of highroad that runs along the front of 
Griinewald, looking down on Gerolstein. Far below, a 
white waterfall was shining to the stars from the falling 
skirts of forest, and beyond that, the night stood naked 
above the plain. On the other hand, the lamplight 


A ROMANCE 


249 


skimmed the face of the precipices, and the dwarf pine- 
trees twinkled with all their needles, and were gone 
again into the wake. The. granite roadway thundered 
under wheels and hoofs ; and at times, by reason of its 
continual winding, Otto could see the escort on the 
other side of a ravine, riding well together in the night. 
Presently the Felsenburg came plainly in view, some 
way above them, on a bold projection of the mountain, 
and planting its hulk against the starry sky. 

* See, Gotthold/ said the Prince, * our destination/ 
Gotthold awoke as from a trance. 

‘ I was thinking/ said he, ‘ if there is danger, why did 
you not resist ? I was told you came of your free will ; 
but should you not be there to help her ? 9 
The colour faded from the Prince’s cheeks. 


CHAPTER III 


PROVIDENCE VON ROSEN : ACT THE LAST : IN WHICH 
SHE GALLOPS OFF 

When tlie busy Countess came forth from her inter- 
view with Seraphina, it is not too much to say that she 
was beginning to be terribly afraid. She paused in the 
corridor and reckoned up her doings with an eye to 
Gondremark. The fan was in requisition in an instant ; 
but her disquiet was beyond the reach of fanning. * The 
girl has lost her head/ she thought ; and then dismally, 
‘1 have gone too far/ She instantly decided on seces- 
sion. How the Mons Sacer of the Frau von Rosen was 
a certain rustic villa in the forest, called by herself, in a 
smart attack of poesy, Tannen-Zauber, and by everybody 
else plain Kleinbrunn. 

Thither, upon the thought, she furiously drove, pass- 
ing Gondremark at the entrance to the Palace avenue, 
but feigning not to observe him ; and as Kleinbrunn 
was seven good miles away and in the bottom of a 
narrow dell, she passed the night without any rumour 
of the outbreak reaching her ; and the glow of the con- 
flagration was concealed by intervening hills. Frau von 
Rosen did not sleep well ; she was seriously uneasy as to 


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251 


the results of her delightful evening, and saw herself 
condemned to quite a lengthy sojourn in her deserts and 
a long defensive correspondence, ere she could venture 
to return to Gondremark. On the other hand, she ex- 
amined, by way of pastime, the deeds she had received 
from Otto ; and even here saw cause for disappointment. 
In these troublous days she had no taste for landed 
property, and she was convinced, besides, that Otto had 
paid dearer than the farm was worth. Lastly, the order 
for the Prince's release fairly burned her meddling 
fingers. 

All things considered, the next day beheld an elegant 
and beautiful lady, in a riding-habit and a flapping hat, 
draw bridle at the gate of the Felsenburg, not perhaps 
with any clear idea of her purpose, but with her usual 
experimental views on life. Governor Gordon, sum- 
moned to the gate, welcomed the omnipotent Countess 
with his most gallant bearing, though it was wonderful 
how old he looked in the morning. 

* Ah, Governor/ she said, f we have surprises for you, 
sir/ and nodded at him meaningly. 

‘ Eh, madam, leave me my prisoners/ he said ; ‘ and 
if you will but join the band, begad. I'll be happy for 
life.' 

f You would spoil me, would you not ? ' she asked. 

C I would try, I would try/ returned the Governor, 
and he offered her his arm. 

She took it, picked up her skirt, and drew him close 


252 


PRINCE OTTO 


to her. ‘ I have come to see the Prince/ she said. 
‘ Now, infidel ! on business. A message from that 
stupid Gondremark, who keeps me running like a 
courier. Do I look like one, Herr Gordon ? 9 And 
she planted her eyes in him. 

‘ You look like an angel, ma’am/ returned the Gov- 
ernor, with a great air of finished gallantry. 

The Countess laughed. e An angel on horseback ! 9 
she said. ‘ Quick work/ 

f You came, you saw, you conquered/ flourished 
Gordon, in high good humour with his own wit and 
grace. ‘We toasted you, madam, in the carriage, in 
an excellent good glass of wine ; toasted you fathom 
deep ; the finest woman, with, begad, the finest eyes 
in Grunewald. I never saw the like of them but once, 
in my own country, when I was a young fool at College : 
Thomasina Haig, her name was. I give you my word 
of honour, she was as like you as two peas/ 

‘ And so you were merry in the carriage ? 9 asked the 
Countess, gracefully dissembling a yawn. 

‘ We were ; we had a very pleasant conversation ; but 
we took perhaps a glass more than that fine fellow of a 
Prince has been accustomed to/ said the Governor ; 
‘ and I observe this morning that he seems a little off 
his mettle. We’ll get him mellow again ere bedtime. 
This is his door/ 

‘Well/ she whispered, ‘let me get my breath. No, 
no ; wait. Have the door ready to open/ And the 


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Countess, standing like one inspired, shook out her 
fine voice in ‘ Lascia ch' io pianga ; ' and when she had 
reached the proper point, and lyrically uttered forth her 
sighings after liberty, the door, at a sign, was flung wide 
open, and she swam into the Prince's sight, bright-eyed, 
and w T ith her colour somewhat freshened by the exercise 
of singing. It was a great dramatic entrance, and to 
the somewhat doleful prisoner within the sight was 
sunshine. 

' Ah, madam/ he cried, running to her — 'you here !' 

She looked meaningly at Gordon ; and as soon as the 
door was closed she fell on Otto's neck. ‘ To see you 
here ! ' she moaned and clung to him. 

But the Prince stood somewhat stiffly in that enviable 
situation, and the Countess instantly recovered from her 
outburst. 

‘ Poor child,' she said, ' poor child ! Sit down beside 
me here, and tell me all about it. My heart really 
bleeds to see you. How does time go ? ' 

' Madam,' replied the Prince, sitting down beside her, 
his gallantry recovered, ‘ the time will now go all too 
quickly till you leave. But I must ask you for the 
news. I have most bitterly condemned myself for my 
inertia of last night. You wisely counselled me ; it 
was my duty to resist. You wisely and nobly counselled 
me ; I have since thought of it with wonder. You have 
a noble heart.' 

< Otto,' she said, ‘ spare me. Was it even right, I won- 


254 


PRINCE OTTO 


der ? I have duties, too, you poor child ; and when I 
see you they all melt — all my good resolutions fly away/ 

f And mine still come too late/ he replied, sighing. 
‘ Oh, what would I not give to have resisted ? What 
would I not give for freedom ? 9 

‘ Well, what would you give ? 9 she asked ; and the 
red fan was spread ; only her eyes, as if from over battle- 
ments, brightly surveyed him. 

‘ I ? What do you mean ? Madam, you have some 
news for me/ he cried. 

‘ 0, 0 ! 9 said madam, dubiously. 

He was at her feet. ‘ Do not trifle with my hopes/ he 
pleaded. ‘ Tell me, dearest Madame von Rosen, tell 
me ! You cannot be cruel : it is not in your nature. 
Give ? I can give nothing ; I have nothing ; I can only 
plead in mercy/ 

* Do not/ she said ; f it is not fair. Otto, you know 
my weakness. Spare me. Be generous/ 

‘ 0, madam/ he said, f it is for you to be generous, to 
have pity/ He took her hand and pressed it ; he plied 
her with caresses and appeals. The Countess had a 
most enjoyable sham siege, and then relented. She 
sprang to her feet, she tore her dress open, and, all 
warm from her bosom, threw the order on the floor. 

* There l’ she cried. ‘ I forced it from her. Use it, 
and I am ruined l 9 And she turned away as if to veil 
the force of her emotions. 

Otto sprang upon the paper, read it, and cried out 


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aloud. ‘ 0, God bless her ! 9 he said, f God bless her/ 
And he kissed the writing. 

Yon Rosen was a singularly good-natured woman, but 
her part was now beyond her. * Ingrate ! 9 she cried ; ‘ I 
wrung it from her, I betrayed my trust to get it, and 
'tis she you thank ! 9 

‘ Can you blame me ?’ said the Prince. ‘ I love her/ 

* I see that/ she said. ‘ And I ? 9 

‘ You, Madame yon Rosen ? You are my dearest, my 
kindest, and most generous of friends/ he said, ap- 
proaching her. ‘ You would be a perfect friend, if 
you were not so lovely. You have a great sense of 
humour, you cannot be unconscious of your charm, and 
you amuse yourself at times by playing on my weakness ; 
and at times I can take pleasure in the comedy. But 
not to-day : to-day you will be the true, the serious, the 
manly friend, and you will suffer me to forget that you 
are lovely and that I am weak. Come, dear Countess, 
let me to-day repose in you entirely/ 

He held out his hand, smiling, and she took it 
frankly. * I vow you have bewitched me/ she said ; 
and then with a laugh, f I break my staff ! 9 she added ; 
* and I must pay you my best compliment. You made 
a difficult speech. You are as adroit, dear Prince, as I 
am — charming/ And as she said the word with a great 
courtesy, she justified it. 

‘You hardly keep the bargain, madam, when you 
make yourself so beautiful/ said the Prince, bowing. 


256 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ It was my last arrow/ she returned. ‘ I am dis- 
armed. Blank cartridge, 0 mon Prince ! And now 
I tell you, if you choose to leave this prison, you can, 
and I am ruined. Choose ! 9 

‘ Madame von Rosen/ replied Otto, ‘ I choose, and I 
will go. My duty points me, duty still neglected by 
this Featherhead. But do not fear to be a loser. I 
propose instead that you should take me with you, a 
bear in chains, to Baron Gondremark. I am become 
perfectly unscrupulous : to save my wife I will do all, 
all he can ask or fancy. He shall be filled ; were he 
huge as leviathan and greedy as the grave, I will con- 
tent him. And you, the fairy of our pantomime, shall 
have the credit/ 

‘ Done ! 9 she cried. ‘ Admirable ! Prince Charm- 
ing no longer — Prince Sorcerer, Prince Solon ! Let us 
go this moment. Stay/ she cried, pausing. ‘I beg, 
dear Prince, to give you back these deeds. *Twas you 
who liked the farm — I have not seen it ; and it was you 
who wished to benefit the peasants. And, besides/ she 
added, with a comical change of tone, ‘ I should prefer 
the ready money/ 

Both laughed. ‘ Here I am, once more a farmer/ 
said Otto, accepting the papers, ‘but overwhelmed in 
debt/ 

The Countess touched a bell, and the Governor ap- 
peared. 

‘ Governor/ she said, ‘ I am going to elope with his 


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Highness. The result of our talk has been a thorough 
understanding, and the coup d’btat is over. Here is 
the order/ 

Colonel Gordon adjusted silver spectacles upon his 
nose. ‘ Yes/ he said, * the Princess : very right. But 
the warrant, madam, was countersigned/ 

c By Heinrich ! 9 said von Rosen. ‘ Well, and here am 
I to represent him/ 

‘Well, your Highness/ resumed the soldier of for- 
tune, 'I must congratulate you upon my loss. You 
have been cut out by beauty, and I am left lamenting. 
The Doctor still remains to me : probus, cloctus, lepidus, 
jucundus : a man of hooks/ 

‘ Ay, there is nothing about poor Gotthold/ said the 
Prince. 

‘The Governor's consolation ? Would you leave him 
bare ? 9 asked von Rosen. 

‘ And, your Highness/ resumed Gordon, ‘ may I trust 
that in the course of this temporary obscuration, you 
have found me discharge my part with suitable respect 
and, I may add, tact ? I adopted purposely a cheerful- 
ness of manner ; mirth, it appeared to me, and a good 
glass of wine, were the fit alleviations/ 

‘Colonel/ said Otto, holding out his hand, ‘your 
society was of itself enough. I do not merely thank 
you for your pleasant spirits ; I have to thank you, 
besides, for some philosophy, of which I stood in need. 

I trust I do not see you for the last time ; and in the 
17 


258 


PRINCE OTTO 


meanwhile, as a memento of our strange acquaintance, 
let me offer you these verses on which I was but now 
engaged. I am so little of a poet, and was so ill in- 
spired by prison bars, that they have some claim to 
be at least a curiosity/ 

The Coloners countenance lighted as he took the 
paper; the silver spectacles were hurriedly replaced. 
‘ Ha ! ' he said, ‘ Alexandrines, the tragic metre. I 
shall cherish this, your Highness, like a relic ; no more 
suitable offering, although I say it, could be made. 
“Dieux de /immense plaine et des vastes for£ts/' 
Very good/ he said, ‘very good indeed! “ Et du 
geolier lui-m4me apprendre des leqons/ Most hand- 
some, begad ! ' 

‘ Come, Governor/ cried the Countess, ‘ you can read 
his poetry when we are gone. Open your grudging 
portals/ 

‘ I ask your pardon/ said the Colonel. ‘ To a man of 
my character and tastes, these verses, this handsome 
reference — most moving, I assure you. Can I offer you 
an escort ? 9 

‘Ho, no/ replied the Countess. ‘ We go incogniti, as 
we arrived. We ride together ; the Prince will take my 
servant's horse. Hurry and privacy, Herr Oberst, that 
is all we seek/ And she began impatiently to lead 
the way. 

But Otto had still to bid farewell to Doctor Gotthold ; 
aud the Governor following, with his spectacles in one 


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259 


hand and the paper in the other, had still to communi- 
cate his treasured verses, piece by piece, as he succeeded 
in deciphering the manuscript, to all he came across; 
and still his enthusiasm mounted. * I declare/ he cried 
at last, with the air of one who has at length divined 
a mystery, * they remind me of Robbie Burns ! 5 

But there is an end to all things ; and at length 
Otto was walking by the side of Madame von Rosen, 
along that mountain wall, her servant following with 
both the horses, and all about them sunlight, and 
breeze, and flying bird, and the vast regions of the 
air, and the capacious prospect : wildwood and climb- 
ing pinnacle, and the sound and voice of mountain 
torrents, at their hand : and far below them, green 
melting into sapphire on the plains. 

They walked at first in silence ; for Otto 5 s mind was 
full of the delight of liberty and nature, and still, 
betweenwhiles, he was preparing his interview with 
Gondremark. But when the first rough promontory 
of the rock was turned, and the Felsenburg concealed 
behind its bulk, the lady paused. 

f Here/ she said, f I will dismount poor Karl, and 
you and I must ply our spurs. I love a wild ride 
with a good companion . 5 

As she spoke, a carriage came into sight round the 
corner next below them in the order of the road. It 
came heavily creaking, and a little ahead of it a trav- 
eller was soberly walking, note-book in hand. 


260 


PRINCE OTTO 


f It is Sir John/ cried Otto, and he hailed him. 

The Baronet pocketed his note-book, stared through 
an eye-glass, and then waved his stick ; and he on his 
side, and the Countess and the Prince on theirs, ad- 
vanced with somewhat quicker steps. They met at 
the reentrant angle, where a thin stream sprayed 
across the boulder and was scattered in rain among 
the brush; and the Baronet saluted the Prince with 
much punctilio. To the Countess, on the other hand, 
he bowed with a kind of sneering wonder. 

f Is it possible, madam, that you have not heard the 
news ? 9 he asked. 

f What news ? * she cried. 

* News of the first order/ returned Sir John : f a 
revolution in the State, a Republic declared, the Palace 
burned to the ground, the Princess in flight, Gondre- 

mark wounded ? 

f Heinrich wounded ?’ she screamed. 
f Wounded and suffering acutely/ said Sir John. 
f His groans ’ 

There fell from the lady’s lips an oath so potent 
that, in smoother hours, it would have made her hearers 
jump. She ran to her horse, scrambled to the saddle, 
and, yet half seated, dashed down the road at full 
gallop. The groom, after a pause of wonder, followed 
her. The rush of her impetuous passage almost scared 
the carriage horses over the verge of the steep hill ; and 
still she clattered further, and the crags echoed to her 


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flight, and still the groom flogged vainly in pursuit of 
her. At the fourth corner, a woman trailing slowly 
up leaped hack with a cry and escaped death by a 
hand’s-breadth. But the Countess wasted neither 
glance nor thought upon the incident. Out and in, 
about the bluffs of the mountain wall, she fled, loose- 
reined, and still the groom toiled in her pursuit. 

* A most impulsive lady ! 9 said Sir J ohn. f Who 
would have thought she cared for him ? 9 And before 
the words were uttered, he was struggling in the Prince’s 
grasp. 

‘ My wife ! the Princess ? What of her ? 9 

‘ She is down the road,’ he gasped. * I left her twenty 
minutes back.’ 

And next moment, the choked author stood alone, 
and the Prince on foot was racing down the hill behind 
the Countess. 


CHAPTER IV 


BABES IN THE WOOD 

While the feet of the Prince continued to run 
swiftly, his heart, which had at first by far outstripped 
his running, soon began to linger and hang hack. Not 
that he ceased to pity the misfortune or to yearn for the 
sight of Seraphina ; hut the memory of her obdurate 
coldness awoke within him, and woke in turn his own 
habitual diffidence of self. Had Sir John been given 
time to tell him all, had he even known that she was 
speeding to the Felsenburg, he would have gone to her 
with ardour. As it was, he began to see himself once 
more intruding, profiting, perhaps, by her misfortune, 
and now that she was fallen, proffering unloved caresses 
to the wife who had spurned him in prosperity. The 
sore spots upon his vanity began to burn ; once more, 
his anger assumed the carriage of a hostile generosity ; 
he would utterly forgive indeed ; he would help, save, 
and comfort his unloving wife ; but all with distant self- 
denial, imposing silence on his heart, respecting Sera- 
phina's disaffection as he would the innocence of a child. 
So, when at length he turned a corner and beheld the 
Princess, it was his first thought to reassure her of the 


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purity of his respect, and he at once ceased running and 
stood still. She, upon her part, began to run to him 
with a little cry ; then, seeing him pause, she paused 
also, smitten with remorse ; and at length, with the 
most guilty timidity, walked nearly up to where he 
stood. 

‘ Otto/ she said, ‘ I have ruined all ! 9 

‘ Seraph ina ! 9 he cried with a sob, but did not move, 
partly withheld by his resolutions, partly struck stupid 
at the sight of her weariness and disorder. Had she 
stood silent, they had soon been locked in an embrace. 
But she too had prepared herself against the interview, 
and must spoil the golden hour with protestations. 

‘ All ! 9 she went on, f I have ruined all ! But, Otto, 
in kindness you must hear me — not justify, but own, 
my faults. I have been taught so cruelly ; I have had 
such time for thought, and see the world so changed. I 
have been blind, stone-blind ; I have let all true good 
go by me, and lived on shadows. But when this dream 
fell, and I had betrayed you, and thought I had killed 

9 She paused. ‘1 thought I had killed Gondre- 

mark/ she said with a deep flush, ‘ and I found myself 
alone as you said/ 

The mention of the name of Gondremark pricked the 
Prince's generosity like a spur. ‘ Well/ he cried, ‘and 
whose fault was it but mine ? It was my duty to be 
beside you, loved or not. But I was a skulker in the 
grain, and found it easier to desert than to oppose you. 


264 


PRINCE OTTO 


I could never learn that better part of love, to fight 
love’s battles. But yet the love was there. And now 
when this toy kingdom of ours has fallen, first of all by 
my demerits, and next by your inexperience, and we are 
here alone together, as poor as Job and merely a man 
and a woman — let me conjure you to forgive the weak- 
ness and to repose in the love. Do not mistake me ! ’ 
he cried, seeing her about to speak, and imposing silence 
with uplifted hand. ‘ My love is changed ; it is purged 
of any conjugal pretension ; it does not ask, does not 
hope, does not wish, for a return in kind. You may 
forget forever that part in which you found me so dis- 
tasteful, and accept without embarrassment the affec- 
tion of a brother.’ 

f You are too generous, Otto,’ she said. * I know that 
I have forfeited your love. I cannot take this sacrifice. 
You had far better leave me. 0 go away, and leave me 
to my fate ! ’ 

'0 no!’ said Otto ; * we must first of all escape out 
of this hornet’s nest, to which I led you. My honour is 
engaged. I said but now we were as poor as Job ; and 
behold ! not many miles from here I have a house of 
my own to which I will conduct you. Otto the Prince 
being down, we must try what luck remains to Otto the 
Hunter. Come, Seraphina ; show that you forgive me, 
and let us set about this business of escape in the best 
spirits possible. You used to say, my dear, that, except 
as a husband and a prince, I was a pleasant fellow. I 


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265 


am neither now, and you may like my company without 
remorse. Come, then ; it were idle to be captured. Can 
you still walk ? Forth, then/ said he, and he began to 
lead the way. 

A little below where they stood, a good-sized brook 
passed below the road, which overleapt it in a single 
arch. On one bank of that loquacious water a footpath 
descended a green dell. Here it was rocky and stony, 
and lay on the steep scarps of the ravine ; here it was 
choked with brambles ; and there, in fairy haughs, it 
lay for a few paces evenly on the green turf. Like a 
sponge, the hillside oozed with well-water. The burn 
kept growing both in force and volume ; at every leap it 
fell with heavier plunges and span more widely in the 
pool. Great had been the labours of that stream, and 
great and agreeable the changes it had wrought. It had 
cut through dykes of stubborn rock, and now, like a 
blowing dolphin, spouted through the orifice ; along all 
its humble coasts, it had undermined and rafted-down 
the goodlier timber of the forest ; and on these rough 
clearings it now set and tended primrose gardens, and 
planted woods of willow, and made a favourite of the 
silver birch. Through all these friendly features the 
path, its human acolyte, conducted our two wanderers 
downward, — Otto before, still pausing at the more diffi- 
cult passages to lend assistance ; the Princess following. 
From time to time, when he turned to help her, her face 
would lighten upon his — her eyes, half desperately, woo 


266 


PRINCE OTTO 


him. He saw, but dared not understand. e She does 
not love me/ he told himself, with magnanimity. * This 
is remorse or gratitude ; I were no gentleman, no, nor yet 
a man, if I presumed upon these pitiful concessions/ 

Some way down the glen, the stream, already grown 
to a good bulk of water, was rudely dammed across, and 
about a third of it abducted in a wooden trough. Gaily 
the pure water, air's first cousin, fleeted along the rude 
aqueduct, whose sides and floor it had made green with 
grasses. The path, bearing it close company, threaded 
a wilderness of briar and wild rose. And presently, a 
little in front, the brown top of a mill and the tall mill- 
wheel, spraying diamonds, arose in the narrows of the 
glen ; at the same time the snoring music of the saws 
broke the silence. 

The miller, hearing steps, came forth to his door, and 
both he and Otto started. 

f Good-morning, miller/ said the Prince. ‘ You were 
right, it seems, and I was wrong. I give you the news, 
and bid you to Mittwalden. My throne has fallen — 
great was the fall of it ! — and your good friends of the 
Phoenix bear the rule/ 

The red-faced miller looked supreme astonishment. 

‘ And your Highness ? ' he gasped. 

My Highness is running away/ replied Otto, ‘ straight 
for the frontier/ 

* Leaving Grunewald ? 9 cried the man. ‘ Your fa- 
ther's son ? It's not to be permitted ! ' 


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267 


f Do you arrest us, friend ? 9 asked Otto, smiling. 
f Arrest you ? I ? 9 exclaimed the man. ‘ For what 
does your Highness take me ? Why, sir, I make sure 
there is not a man in Grunewald would lay hands upon 
you/ 

‘ 0, many, many/ said the Prince ; ‘ but from you, 
■who were bold with me in my greatness, I should even 
look for aid in my distress/ 

The miller became the colour of beetroot. ‘ You may 
say so indeed/ said he. i And meanwhile, will you and 
your lady step into my house ? 9 

‘ We have not time for that/ replied the Prince ; ‘ but 
if you would oblige us with a cup of wine without here, 
you will give a pleasure and a service, both in one/ 

The miller once more coloured to the nape. He hast- 
ened to bring forth wine in a pitcher and three bright 
crystal tumblers. * Your Highness must not suppose/ 
he said, as he filled them, ‘that I am an habitual 
drinker. The time when I had the misfortune to en- 
counter you, I was a trifle overtaken, I allow ; but a 
more sober man than I am in my ordinary, I do not 
know where you are to look for ; and even this glass 
that I drink to you (and to the lady) is quite an unusual 
recreation/ 

The wine was drunk with due rustic courtesies ; and 
then, refusing further hospitality, Otto and Seraphina 
once more proceeded to descend the glen, which now 
began to open and to be invaded by the taller trees. 


268 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘ I owed that man a reparation/ said the Prince ; ‘ for 
when we met I was in the wrong and put a sore affront 
upon him. I judge by myself, perhaps ; hut I begin to 
think that no one is the better for a humiliation/ 
f But some have to be taught so/ she replied. 

‘ Well, well/ he said, with a painful embarrassment. 

‘ Well, well. But let us think of safety. My miller is 
all very good, but I do not pin my faith to him. To 
follow down this stream will bring us, but after innu- 
merable windings, to my house. Here, up this glade, 
there lies a cross-cut — the world’s end for solitude — the 
very deer scarce visit it. Are you too tired, or could you 
pass that way ? 9 

‘ Choose the path, Otto. I will follow you/ she said. 
f No/ he replied, with a singular imbecility of manner 
and appearance, * but I meant the path was rough. It 
lies, all the way, by glade and dingle, and the dingles 
are both deep and thorny/ 

f Lead on/ she said. * Are you not Otto the Hunter ? 9 
They had now burst across a veil of underwood, and 
were come into a lawn among the forest, very green and 
innocent, and solemnly surrounded by trees. Otto 
paused on the margin, looking about him with delight ; 
then his glance returned to Seraphina, as she stood 
framed in that sylvan pleasantness and looking at her 
husband with undecipherable eyes. A weakness both 
of the body and mind fell on him like the beginnings 
of sleep ; the cords of his activity were relaxed, his eyes 


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269 


clung to her. f Let us rest/ he said ; and he made her 
sit down, and himself sat down beside her on the slope 
of an inconsiderable mound. 

She sat with her eyes downcast, her slim hand dab- 
bling in grass, like a maid waiting for love's summons. 
The sound of the wind in the forest swelled and sank, 
and drew near them with a running rush, and died 
away and away in the distance into fainting whispers. 
Nearer hand, a bird out of the deep covert uttered 
broken and anxious notes. All this seemed but a halt- 
ing prelude to speech. To Otto it seemed as if the 
whole frame of nature were waiting for his words ; and 
yet his pride kept him silent. The longer he watched 
that slender and pale hand plucking at the grasses, the 
harder and rougher grew the fight between pride and its 
kindly adversary. 

f Seraphina,' he said at last, * it is right you should 
know one thing : I never . . . / He was about to say 
‘ doubted you,' but was that true ? And, if true, was it 
generous to speak of it ? Silence succeeded. 

‘ I pray you, tell it me/ she said ; f tell it me, in 
pity.’ 

* I mean only this,' he resumed, * that I understand 
all, and do not blame you. I understand how the brave 
woman must look down on the weak man. I think you 
were wrong in some things ; but I have tried to under- 
stand it, and I do. I do not need to forget or to forgive, 
Seraphina, for I have understood.' 


270 


PRINCE OTTO 


‘1 know what I have done/ she said. ‘I am not 
so weak that I can be deceived with kind speeches. 
I know what I have been — I see myself. I am not 
worth your anger, how much less to be forgiven ! In 
all this downfall and misery, I see only me and you : 
you, as you have been always ; me, as I was — me, 
above all ! 0 yes, I see myself : and what can I 

think V 

‘Ah, then, let us reverse the parts !* said Otto. ‘It 
is ourselves we cannot forgive, when we deny forgive- 
ness to another — so a friend told me last night. On 
these terms, Seraphina, you see how generously I have 
forgiven myself. But am not I to be forgiven ? Come, 
then, forgive yourself — and me/ 

She did not answer in words, hut reached out her 
hand to him quickly. He took it ; and as the smooth 
fingers settled and nestled in his, love ran to and fro 
between them in tender and transforming currents. 

‘ Seraphina/ he cried, ‘ 0, forget the past ! Let 
me serve and help you ; let me be your servant ; it 
is enough for me to serve you and to be near you ; 
let me be near you, dear — do not send me away/ He 
hurried his pleading like the speech of a frightened 
child. ‘ It is not love/ he went on ; ‘ I do not ask for 
love ; my love is enough . . / 

‘ Otto/ she said, as if in pain. 

He looked up into her face. It was wrung with 
the very ecstasy of tenderness and anguish ; on her 


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271 


features, and most of all in her changed eyes, there 
shone the very light of love. 

‘ Seraphina ? 9 he cried aloud, and with a sudden, 
tuneless voice, f Seraphina ? 9 

‘ Look round you at this glade/ she cried, ‘ and where 
the leaves are coming on young trees, and the flowers 
begin to blossom. This is where we meet, meet for 
the first time ; it is so much better to forget and to 
be born again. 0, what a pit there is for sins — God^s 
mercy, man’s oblivion \ 9 

* Seraphina/ he said, ‘ let it be so, indeed ; let 
all that was be merely the abuse of dreaming ; let me 
begin again, a stranger. I have dreamed, in a long 
dream, that I adored a girl unkind and beautiful ; in 
all things my superior, hut still cold like ice. And 
again I dreamed, and thought she changed and melted, 
glowed and turned to me. And I — who had no merit 
hut a love, slavish and unerect — lay close, and durst not 
move for fear of waking/ 

' Lie close/ she said, with a deep thrill of speech. 

So they spake in the spring woods ; and meanwhile, 
in Mittwalden Rath-haus, the Republic was declared. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL POSTSCRIPT 


TO COMPLETE THE STORY 

The reader well informed in modern history will not 
require details as to the fate of the Republic. The best 
account is to be found in the memoirs of Herr Greisen- 
gesang (7 Biinde : Leipzig), by our passing acquaint- 
ance the licentiate Roederer. Herr Roederer, with too 
much of an author’s licence, makes a great figure of his 
hero — poses him, indeed, to be the centre-piece and 
cloud-compeller of the whole. But, with due allowance 
for this bias, the book is able and complete. 

The reader is, of course, acquainted with the vigorous 
and bracing pages of Sir John (2 volumes: London: 
Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown). Sir John, 
who plays but a toothcomb in the orchestra of this his- 
torical romance, blows in his own book the big bassoon. 
His character is there drawn at large ; and the sympathy 
of Landor has countersigned the admiration of the 
public. One point, however, calls for explanation ; 
the chapter on Griinewald was torn by the hand of the 
author in the palace gardens ; how comes it, then, to 
figure at full length among my more modest pages, the 
Lion of the caravan ? That eminent literatus was a 


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278 

man of method ; f Juvenal by double entry/ he was once 
profanely called ; and when he tore the sheets in ques- 
tion, it was rather, as he has since explained, in the 
search for some dramatic evidence of his sincerity, than 
with the thought of practical deletion. At that time, in- 
deed, he was possessed of two blotted scrolls and a fair 
copy in double. But the chapter, as the reader knows, 
was honestly omitted from the famous * Memoirs on the 
various Courts of Europe/ It has been mine to give it 
to the public. 

Bibliography still helps us with a farther glimpse of 
our characters. I have here before me a small volume 
(printed for private circulation : no printer's name ; 
n.d.) f Poesies par Frederic et Amelie/ Mine is a pres- 
entation copy, obtained for me by Mr. Bain in the Hay- 
market ; and the name of the first owner is written on 
the fly-leaf in the hand of Prince Otto himself. The 
modest epigraph — ‘ Le rime n'est pas riche may be 
attributed, with a good show of likelihood, to the same 
collaborator. It is strikingly appropriate, and I have 
found the volume very dreary. Those pieces in which I 
seem to trace the hand of the Princess are particularly 
dull and conscientious. But the booklet had a fair suc- 
cess with that public for which it was designed ; and I 
have come across some evidences of a second venture of 
the same sort, now unprocurable. Here, at least, we 
may take leave of Otto and Seraphina — what do I say ? 

of Frederic and Am61ie — ageing together peaceably at 

18 


274 


PRINCE OTTO 


the court of the wife's father, jingling French rhymes 
and correcting joint proofs. 

Still following the book-lists, I perceive that Mr. 
Swinburne has dedicated a rousing lyric and some vigor- 
ous sonnets to the memory of Gondremark ; that name 
appears twice at least in Victor Hugo's trumpet blasts of 
patriot enumeration ; and I came latterly, when I sup- 
posed my task already ended, on a trace of the fallen 
politician and his Countess. It is in the f Diary of J. 
Hogg Cotterill, Esq.' (that very interesting work). Mr. 
Cotterill, being at Naples, is introduced (May 27th) to 
f a Baron and Baroness Gondremark — he a man who 
once made a noise — she still beautiful — both witty. She 
complimented me much upon my French — should never 
have known me to be English — had known my uncle. 
Sir John, in Germany — recognised in me, as a family 
trait, some of his grand air and studious courtesy — asked 
me to call.' And again (May 30th) * visited the Baronne 
de Gondremark — much gratified — a most refined , intelli- 
gent woman, quite of the old school, now helas ! extinct 
— had read my Remarks on Sicily — it reminds her of my 
uncle, but with more of grace — I feared she thought 
there was less energy — assured no — a softer style of pres- 
entation, more of the literary grace , but the same firm 
grasp of circumstance and force of thought — in short, 
just Buttonhole's opinion. Much encouraged. I have 
a real esteem for this patrician lady.' The acquaintance 
lasted some time ; and when Mr. Cotterill left in the 


A ROMANCE 


275 


suite of Lord Protocol, and, as he is careful to inform 
us, in Admiral Yardarm’s flag-ship, one of his chief 
causes of regret is to leave ‘that most spirituelle and 
sympathetic lady, who already regards me as a youngei 
brother/ 









THE WORKS OF 

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 


The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Edited by Sidney Colvin. With drawings by Peixotto 
and Guerin. 2 vols., 8 vo, $5.00 net. 


The following volumes , 12 mo, red cloth, 25 volumes, 
in a box, $j2.oo. 

St. Ives. 

The Adventures of a French Prisoner in England. i2mo, $1.50. 

“ St. Ives ” is a story of action and adventure in the author’s most buoyant and 
stirring manner. One does not expect to find commonplaces in Stevenson, but even 
his most ardent admirers may well be surprised at the grim tragedy in the opening 
chapters of “St. Ives.” 

In the South Seas. 

With Map. i2mo, $1.50. 

This volume is made up of selections from the interesting sketches contributed 
to periodicals by Mr. Stevenson, narrating his experiences and observations in the 
Marquesas (the scene ot Melville’s “Typee”), Paumotus, and the Gilbert Islands, 
gathered in the course of two cruises on the yacht “ Casco ” (1888) and the schooner 
“Equator” (1889). 

Weir of Hermiston. 

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Comprising all the poems contained in “ A Child’s Garden of Verses,” 
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Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the year 1 75 1 . 
With 16 full-page illustrations by William Hole. i2mo, $1.50. 

“ Mr. Stevenson has never appeared to greater advantage than in * Kidnapped.’ 
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David Balfour. 

Being Memoirs of his Adventures at Home and Abroad. i2mo, $1. 50. 

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THE WORKS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 


The Master of Ballantrae. 

A Winter’s Tale. With io full-page illustrations by William Hole. 
i2mo, $1.50. 

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an honor to the author and a credit to literature.”— New York Tribune. 

The Wrecker. 

By Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. With 12 
full-page illustrations by William Hole and W. L. Metcalf. 
i2mo, $1.50. 

“ It seems much the most enticing romance at present before the world. ” 

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Prince Otto. 

A Romance. i2mo, $1.00. 

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The Merry Men, 

And Other Tales and Fables, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 
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The Black Arrow. 

A Tale of the Two Roses. Illustrated by Will H. Low and Alfred 
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“It has all the good qualities of his other stories — their invention, their 
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ible in its stirring pages.”— R. H. Stoddard. 

New Arabian Nights. 

i2mo, $1.25. 

“ There is something in his work which engages and fixes the attention from 
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and which refuses to be forgotten long after the book has been put away.” 

— R. H. Stoddard. 

The Dynamiter. 

More New Arabian Nights. By Robert Louis Stevenson and 
Mrs. Stevenson. i2mo, $1.25. 

“ There is no writer in the English language to-day who can alternately touch 
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as ever passed through the brain.” — Philadelphia Times. 

Island Nights’ Entertainments. 

Illustrated. i2mo, $1.25. 

“ The book will be reckoned among the finest of Mr. Stevenson’s works. The 
art of it is so nearly perfect that it seems spontaneous, and the matter is absolutely 
unique.” — Boston Beacon. 

The Wrong Box. 

By Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. i2mo, $1.25. 

“ It brings out more strongly than any of Mr. Stevenson’s preceding works his 
facile wit and irresistible humor.” — Chicago Tribune. 


THE WORKS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSORT 


Virginibus Puerisque. 

And Other Papers. i2mo, $1.25. 

“ Avowedly the book of a young man taking account of life from the starting 
point. There is a great deal in it which is individual, suggestive, and direct from 
life. There are sayings about Truth of Intercourse which penetrate a long way. 
There are passages concerning youth which probe to the quick some of its ailments 
and errors. ’ — Atlantic Monthly. 

Memories and Portraits. 

I 2 mc, $1.25. 

“ The grace and delicacy, the just artistic instinct, the curious aptness of phrase 
which distinguish these essays, can be fully appreciated only by a reader who loves 
to go back to them again and again after a first perusal.” —Lippincott' s Magazine. 

Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin. 

i2mo, $1.25. 

“ The glimpses that we get of Mr. Stevenson himself in this book are charming 
and add greatly to its edifying and entertaining character. The style of the nar* 
rative is original, lucid, and spirited.” — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. 

Familiar Studies of Men and Books. 

i2mo, $1.25. 

Contents: Victor Hugo’s Romances, Some Aspects of Robert Burns, Walt 
"Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Yoshida Torajiro, Francois Villon, Charles of 
Orleans, Samuel Pepys, John Knox, and Women. 

An Inland Voyage. 

i2mo, $1.00. 

** Mr. Stevenson does not make canoeing itself his main theme, but delights in 
charming bits of description that, in their close attention to picturesque detail, 
remind one of the work of a skilled ‘ genre ’ painter. Nor does he hesitate .... 
to indulge in a strain of gently humorous reflection that furnishes some of the 
pleasantest passages of the book.” — Good Literature. 

Travels with a Donkey 

In the Cevennes. i2mo, $1.00. 

“ The author sees everything with the eye of a philosopher. He has a steady 
flow of humor that is as apparently spontaneous as a mountain brook, and he 
views a landscape or a human figure, not only as a tourist seeking subjects for a 
book, but as an artist to whom the slightest line or tint carries a definite impres- 
sion.” — Boston Courier. 

The Silverado Squatters. 

With a frontispiece by Walter Crane. i2mo, $1.00. 

“ The interest of the book centres in graphic style and keen observation of the 
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that you seem to have made personal acquaintance with both.” — N. Y, World. 

Across the Plains. 

With Other Memories and Essays. i2mo, $1.25. 

“ The book sets us again to wondering at the facility with which Mr. Stevenson 
makes phrases and builds paragraphs ; moreover, we renew our admiration for a 
style as subtle as ether and as brilliant as fire opal.” — The Independent, 

A Foot=Note to History. 

Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa. i2mo, $1.50. 

“A story well worth reading. We have first a description of the curious and 
complex elements of discord, both native and foreign, in Samoa, and then a mar- 
velous story of how these discordant elements have been at work during eight 
years.” — Public Opinion. 


THE WORKS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 


The following volumes , i6mo , green buckram , 6 volumes , 
in a box, $6 jo. 


Fables. i6mo, $1.00. 

In these delightful fables will be found a new and interesting expression of Mr. 
Stevenson’s genius. They are here collected and issued for the first time in book 
form, attractively bound, in uniform style with the “ Vailima Letters.” 

Vailima Letters. 2 vols., i6mo, $2.25. 

“The work is full of charm, of brightness, of changeful light and shadow and 
thick-coming fancies. Again it is readable in a high degree, and will, we make no 
doubt, delight thousands of readers.” — London Spectator. 


The Ebb Tide. i6mo, $1.25. 

The Amateur Emigrant. 

i6mo, $1.25. 


Macaire. A Melodramatic 
Farce. By R. L. Stevenson 
and W. E. Henley. i6mo, 
$1.00. 


IN SPECIAL EDITIONS . 

A Child’s Garden of Verses. 


New Edition . Profusely and beautifully illustrated by Charles 

Robinson. i2mo, $1.50. 

w An edition to be recommended in every way. An artist possessing a graceful 
fancy and a sure decorative sense has supplied a profusion of illustrations. The 
letter-press is beautiful.” — N. Y. Evening Post. 


A Christmas Sermon. i6mo, 
net , 50 cents. 

Ballads. i2mo, $1.00. 

A Child’s Garden of Verses. 

i2mo, $1.00. 

Virginibus Puerisque. 

Cameo Edition. i6mo, $1.25. 

Underwoods. i2mo, $1.00. 


Treasure Island. Illustrated, 
i2mo, $1.25. 

Three Plays. By R. L. Ste- 
venson and W. E. Henley. 
8vo, $2.00 net. 

The Suicide Club. [ Ivory 

Series . ] i6mo, 75 cents. 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

i2mo, $1.00. 


THE THISTLE EDITION. 

Sold only by Subscription. Each vol. 8 vo. $ 2.00 net. 

In this luxurious edition of Mr. Stevenson’s works, the Novels 
and Tales occupy twelve volumes, the Travels and Essays four, the 
Poems are complete in a single volume, and the Letters and Mis- 
cellanies seven, or 24 volumes in all. Each volume has a photo- 
gravure or etched frontispiece. 

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 

«53*'57 Fifth Avenue, - 1 - New York 

^7 @54 





























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